Interactions governing transcriptional activity of nuclear receptors

The key players in transcriptional regulation are transcription factors (TFs), proteins that bind specific DNA sequences. Several mechanisms exist to turn TFs ‘on’ and ‘off’, including ligand binding which induces conformational changes within TFs, subsequently influencing multiple inter- and intramolecular interactions to drive transcriptional responses. Nuclear receptors are a specific family of ligand-regulated TFs whose activity relies on interactions with DNA, coregulator proteins and other receptors. These multidomain proteins also undergo interdomain interactions on multiple levels, further modulating transcriptional outputs. Cooperation between these distinct interactions is critical for appropriate transcription and remains an intense area of investigation. In this review, we report and summarize recent findings that continue to advance our mechanistic understanding of how interactions between nuclear receptors and diverse partners influence transcription.