3rd Nuclear Receptors Conference

This meeting will address the new roles and novel crosstalk mechanisms that are emerging for many of the 48 human nuclear receptors, in health and disease. For example, it has long been known that the estrogen receptor drives progression of the majority of breast cancers, and patients with estrogen receptor-positive disease are treated using antiestrogens or aromatase inhibitors to inhibit estrogen signalling. Now however, it is apparent that activation of other nuclear receptors (e.g. progesterone and androgen receptors) can inhibit breast cancer progression, resulting in clinical trials of drugs that activate these receptors and studies to elucidate cross talk between these critical regulatory signalling pathways. The androgen receptor, itself long the main therapeutic driver and target in prostate cancer, is emerging as a key player in metabolic disease, while conversely other nuclear receptors including the glucocorticoid receptor and several orphan nuclear receptors are implicated in prostate cancer progression. Meanwhile, given the impact of many nuclear receptors on the central nervous system, it is unsurprising that they are being explored in the context of neurological disorders and depression. Thus, there is wide scope for re-purposing of licensed drugs and development of new NR-targeting therapies for a host of conditions and diseases.