The Transcriptional Basis of Steroid Physiology

The actions of steroids, the active metabolites of vitamins A and D and thyroid hormones, are mediated by intracellular nuclear receptors whose coordinate activitydefines the physiological response. During the past 80years, eight distinct classes of bioactive hormonal lipidshave been identified, whose comprise is generally viewedas a key part of the endocrine system. In the early part ofthis century, the endocrine glands were looked upon as anisolated group of structures, secreting substances which,in some mysterious fashion, were able to influence embryonic and postembryonic development, sexual maturation, biochemical pathways involving protein and sugarmetabolism, behavior, and reproductive physiology...