Orphan nuclear receptors in T lymphocyte development.

The roles of orphan nuclear receptors in the development and function of the immune system.

Hormones and their receptors regulate cell growth, differentiation and apoptosis and also play important roles in immune function. Recent studies on the subfamily of the orphan nuclear receptors known as retinoid-acid related orphan receptors (ROR) have shed important insights on the roles of this group of nuclear proteins in the development and function of the immune system. RORalpha regulates...

Down-Regulation of the Orphan Nuclear Receptor RORgt Is Essential for T Lymphocyte Maturation

Lymphocyte accumulation in the spleen of retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor gamma-deficient mice.

The hormone nuclear receptor retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor gamma (RORgamma) plays important roles in thymocyte development and lymphoid organogenesis. RORgamma and its thymus-specific isoform RORgammat are expressed in the thymus, but not in the spleen and bone marrow (BM). However, RORgamma(-/-) mice have 2- to 3-fold more splenocytes than wild-type controls due to an accumula...

Lymphocyte development and function in the absence of retinoic acid-related orphan receptor alpha.

The orphan nuclear receptor, retinoid acid-related orphan receptor (ROR)alpha, is essential for the development of cerebellar Purkinje cells and bone tissue. RORalpha may also play a critical role in lymphocyte development and function because staggerer mice, a natural mutant strain with a disrupted expression of RORalpha, have reduced thymic and splenic cellularity. In this report, we analyzed...

Nuclear Hormone Receptors in T Lymphocytes

Among the numerous steroid and orphan nuclear receptors encoded within mammalian genomes, several are involved in regulating immune system functions. We review here recent studies on the glucocorticoid receptor and the orphan receptors Nur77 and RORgamma. These molecules play key roles in the development and the effector functions of T lymphocytes.