The AR (androgen receptor) is a hormone-dependent transcription factor that translates circulating androgen hormone levels into a physiological cellular response by directly regulating the expression of its target genes. It is the key molecule in e.g. the development and maintenance of the male sexual characteristics, spermatocyte production and prostate gland development and growth. It is also a major factor in the onset and maintenance of prostate cancer and a first target for pharmaceutical action against the further proliferation of prostate cancer cells. The AR is a member of the steroid hormone receptors, a group of steroid-inducible transcription factors sharing an identical consensus DNA-binding motif. The problem of how specificity in gene activation is achieved among the different members of this nuclear receptor subfamily is still unclear. In this report, we describe our investigations on how the AR can specifically activate its target genes, while the other steroid hormone receptors do not, despite having the same consensus monomeric DNA-binding motif. In this respect, we describe how the AR interacts with a newly identified class of steroid-response elements to which only the AR and not, for example, the glucocorticoid receptor can bind.
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December 2006
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Conference Article|
October 25 2006
The androgen receptor DNA-binding domain determines androgen selectivity of transcriptional response
G. Verrijdt;
G. Verrijdt
1Laboratory of Molecular Endocrinology, Division of Biochemistry, Campus Gasthuisberg O&N1, Catholic University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
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T. Tanner;
T. Tanner
1Laboratory of Molecular Endocrinology, Division of Biochemistry, Campus Gasthuisberg O&N1, Catholic University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
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U. Moehren;
U. Moehren
1Laboratory of Molecular Endocrinology, Division of Biochemistry, Campus Gasthuisberg O&N1, Catholic University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
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L. Callewaert;
L. Callewaert
1Laboratory of Molecular Endocrinology, Division of Biochemistry, Campus Gasthuisberg O&N1, Catholic University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
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A. Haelens;
A. Haelens
1Laboratory of Molecular Endocrinology, Division of Biochemistry, Campus Gasthuisberg O&N1, Catholic University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
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F. Claessens
F. Claessens
1
1Laboratory of Molecular Endocrinology, Division of Biochemistry, Campus Gasthuisberg O&N1, Catholic University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email frank.claessens@med.kuleuven.be).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
June 26 2006
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© 2006 The Biochemical Society
2006
Biochem Soc Trans (2006) 34 (6): 1089–1094.
Article history
Received:
June 26 2006
Citation
G. Verrijdt, T. Tanner, U. Moehren, L. Callewaert, A. Haelens, F. Claessens; The androgen receptor DNA-binding domain determines androgen selectivity of transcriptional response. Biochem Soc Trans 1 December 2006; 34 (6): 1089–1094. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST0341089
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