Structure-function relationships in DNA- and ligand-binding domains of estrogen receptors

Abstract

Estrogen receptors are members of the nuclear receptor steroid family that exhibit specific structural features, ligand-binding domain sequence identity and dimeric interactions, that single them out. The crystal structures of their DNA-binding domains give some insights into how nuclear receptors discriminate between DNA response elements. The various ligand-binding domain crystal structures of the two known estrogen receptor isotypes (α and β) allow one to interpret ligand specificity and reveal the interactions responsible for stabilizing the activation helix H12 in the agonist and antagonist positions.