FASEB 3rd International Conference on Retinoids

This SRC is the third international retinoid conference. With the discovery of the nuclear retinoid receptors, retinoic acid receptors (RARs) and retinoid X receptors (RXRs), the retinoid field has been implicated in new areas of scientific inquiry including metabolism, metabolic diseases, and neurobiology. The demonstration that RXRs serve as master regulators and signal integrators facilitated transcriptional crosstalk with retinoids and other nuclear receptor superfamily members has broadened interest in retinoid biology and pharmacology. Efforts to study retinoid down-stream signaling effects accelerated discoveries made beyond the nuclear receptors themselves.

Progress has been made in identifying, cloning, and analyzing a family of enzymes critical for the synthesis and degradation of retinoids. Many proteins involved in regulation of retinoid metabolism, homeostasis, and signaling pathways are being explored as potential therapeutic and preventive targets. While retinoid toxicities have limited their application in the clinic, the recent discovery of retinoid receptor selective agonists and antagonists and of multiple novel non-genomic retinoid signaling pathways provided ample opportunities to refine retinoid chemistry and to broaden clinical applications. Receptorselective retinoids retain desired pharmacologic activities, but have reduced toxicities. Exciting example s are the of rexinoids to treat Alzheimer’s disease and the physiologic morphogen for T regulatory cells. Timely communication of cutting-edge insights in this field is needed to advance retinoid basic science and biology and to realize public health benefits from this.