The ERRs are orphan
nuclear receptors
In the field of molecular biology, nuclear receptors are a class of proteins responsible for sensing steroid hormone, steroids, thyroid hormone, thyroid hormones, vitamins, and certain other molecules. These intracellular receptor (biochemistry) ...
, meaning the identity of their endogenous ligand has yet to be unambiguously determined. They are named because of
sequence homology
Sequence homology is the homology (biology), biological homology between DNA sequence, DNA, RNA sequence, RNA, or Protein primary structure, protein sequences, defined in terms of shared ancestry in the evolutionary history of life. Two segments ...
with estrogen receptors, but do not appear to bind estrogens or other tested steroid hormones.
There are three human
estrogen
Estrogen (also spelled oestrogen in British English; see spelling differences) is a category of sex hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics. There are three ...
related receptors:
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ERRα ()
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ERRβ ()
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ERRγ
Estrogen-related receptor gamma (ERR-gamma), also known as NR3B3 (nuclear receptor subfamily 3, group B, member 3), is a nuclear receptor that in humans is encoded by the ESRRG (EStrogen Related Receptor Gamma) gene. It behaves as a constitutive ...
()
ERRs bind enhancers throughout the genome where they exert effects on gene regulation. The ERR family exhibit varying transcriptional activation capabilities and physically interact with the transcriptional co-activators
PGC1-alpha and PGC1-beta,
via their AF-2 domains and the leucine-rich nuclear receptor interacting motifs (LxxLL) present in the PGC-1 proteins,
The ERR family have been demonstrated to control energy homeostasis,
oxidative metabolism,
and mitochondrial biogenesis,
while effecting mammalian physiology in the heart, brown adipose tissue, white adipose tissue, placenta,
macrophages,
and demonstrated additional roles in diabetes and
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
.
The contributions of individual ERRs to physiology continue to be elucidated through the generation of sophisticated tissue-specific gene knockout mouse models.
References
External links
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{{Estrogen-related receptor modulators
Human female endocrine system
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