Nuclear receptors (NR) are ligand-induced activated transcription factors that
are involved in numerous biological processes. Since the 1990's when the first
structures were determined by means of X ray diffraction, the number of NR
structures has increased considerably. Moreover several "omics" projects
(genomics, pharmcogenomics and proteomics) have opened up great opportunities
for the discovery of new targets, the characterization of abnormal protein
patterns, the selection of "tailored" drugs and the evaluation of drug efficacy
even with a lack of structural data. Furthermore, structure-based drug design,
computational methods for in silico screening and nanobiotechnology- based tools
are simplifying this time-consuming and money-intensive research of lead
compounds and, possibly, new drugs.