[Recent aspects of the action of aldosterone]

As described for other steroid hormones, aldosterone action in its target cells involves the binding to intracellular receptors, which modulate the expression of some genes. Recent progress in the field involves: the molecular structure of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) which has been cloned; the effects of MR on transcription; the hetero-oligomeric structure of MR; its tissue-specific distribution; the identification of 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase as an enzyme responsible for mineralocorticoid specificity. Finally, the effects of aldosterone at the cellular and molecular level are now better known. From the precise integrative view of its action on the kidney, the recent fields of this research extend to cellular and molecular understanding of aldosterone action.