Nuclear hormone receptors as targets for new drug discovery

There are two basic types of receptor transducing systems: those which utilize membrane bound receptors and are activated at the cell surface by the appropriate hormone and transmit their signal to the internae of the cell via a second messenger (i.e. cAMP), and those that utilize internal, cytoplasmic or nuclear receptors (intracellular receptors) which upon activation by hormones interact directly with DNA and alter the genetic program of a cell. This review focuses on the mechanism of action of these intracellular receptors and discusses how such an understanding is expected to facilitate the discovery of new therapeutic agents.