Multiple functions and essential roles of nuclear receptor coactivators of bHLH-PAS family

Classical non-peptide hormones, such as steroids, retinoids, thyroid hormones, vitamin D3 and their derivatives including prostaglandins, benzoates, oxysterols, and bile acids, are collectively designated as small lipophilic ligands, acting via binding to the nuclear receptors (NRs). The NRs form a large superfamily of transcription factors that participate virtually in every key biological process. They control various aspects of animal development, fertility, gametogenesis, and numerous metabolic pathways, and can be misregulated in many types of cancers. Their enormous functional plasticity, as transcription factors, relates in part to NR-mediated interactions with plethora of coregulatory proteins upon ligand binding to their ligand binding domains (LBD), or following covalent modification. Here, we review some general views of a specific group of NR coregulators, so-called nuclear receptor coactivators (NRCs) or steroid receptor coactivators (SRCs) and highlight some of their unique functions/roles, which are less extensively mentioned and discussed in other reviews. We also try to pinpoint few neglected moments in the cooperative action of SRCs, which may also indicate their variable roles in the hormone-independent signaling pathways.