Nuclear Receptor and Transcriptional Complex Cycles

Transcriptional regulation by ligand-activated nuclear receptors, also known as steroid receptors, is a highly dynamic process. Nuclear receptors are intracellular proteins that reside in either the cytoplasm or nucleus in the inactive state. The interaction of this family of receptors with the promoters of target genes and with various proteins involved in stimulating gene expression is governed by binding to lipid soluble ligands. The animation, based on experiments following the dynamic interactions of the glucocorticoid receptor or the estrogen receptor with DNA, shows nuclear estrogen receptor and its interaction with a short two-nucleosome fragment of chromatin in the absence and presence of estrogen. The events that occur on the DNA are represented by the ordered recruitment of protein components to a larger macromolecular complex. The associated table describes the proteins and multimolecular complexes that participate in the nuclear receptor-chromatin cycles.