Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Reverse Yeast Two-hybrid System to Identify Mammalian Nuclear Receptor Residues that Interact with Ligands and/or Antagonists
Published on: November 15, 2013
Sex differences in nuclear receptor-regulated liver metabolic pathways
Gianpaolo Rando1, Walter Wahli
1Center for Integrative Genomics and National Research Center Frontiers in Genetics, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Liver metabolism is markedly sex-dimorphic; accordingly, the prevalence of liver diseases is different between sexes. The superfamily of nuclear receptors (NRs) governs the proper expression of key liver metabolism genes by sensing lipid-soluble hormones and dietary lipids. When the expression of those genes is deregulated, disease development is favored. However, we lack a comprehensive picture of the differences between NR actions in males and females. Here, we reviewed explorative studies that assessed NR functions in both sexes, and we propose a first map of sex-dimorphic NR expression in the liver. Our analysis suggested that NRs in the female liver exhibited cross-talk with more liver-protective potential than NRs in male liver. This study provides empirical support to the hypothesis that women are more resilient to some liver diseases than men, based on a more compensative NR network. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Translating nuclear receptors from health to disease.
Related Concept Videos
Transducer Mechanism: Nuclear Receptors
About 48 different soluble family members of nuclear receptors are identified that can be divided into two main classes:
Factors Affecting Drug Biotransformation: Biological
Species differences: Variations in enzyme systems across species can cause disparities in drug metabolism. For instance, humans may metabolize certain drugs faster than rodents, altering therapeutic effects.
Strain differences: Genetic variations within a species can result in differing enzyme activity, impacting drug response and toxicity. For example, some mouse strains may...
Cell Specific Gene Expression
Regulation of Nuclear Protein Sorting
Signal Transduction: Overview
Typically, signal transduction involves three...
Pharmacogenetic Phenotypes: Alterations in Pharmacokinetics, Drug Targets and Biologic Milieu

