Steroid Receptors

This volume aims to provide an updated overview of recent advances in the medicinal chemistry of steroids. Novel synthetic methods in the steroids field, including steroid biotransformations, new steroids able to tackle steroid receptors, and steroid enzymes with clinical relevance, are critically reviewed in this book.

Breast and prostate cancers are both hormone-dependent, at least in some stages of their progression. Hormonal manipulation represents an important therapeutic approach. Although most of breast and prostate cancers initially respond to hormone therapy, most tumors reinitiate to growth. Finally, hormone-resistant and metastatic breast and prostate cancers may develop. Thus, the challenge is the dissection of mechanisms by which steroid receptor signaling pathways continue to influence cell growth and invasiveness.

A distinguished team of principal investigators and their associates describe in step-by-step detail a cross-section of the latest research techniques available for studying the endocrine system. As a basis for sophisticated biochemical analysis of receptor properties, the contributors provide methods for the production and purification of a variety of receptors, including progesterone, glucocorticoid, and androgen. Other protocols allow the reader to experiment with DNA binding characteristics, hormone binding assays, and the use of combinatorial chemistry for drug discovery. A series of novel methods utilizing the latest advances in immunochemistry, yeast two-hybrid screening, and fluorescence are included for the detection and analysis of a variety of cellular proteins that influence steroid receptor effectiveness.

The series, Hormones in Health and Disease, was launched in 1993 to provide a scientific platform for investigators engaged in research on the biological actions of hormones and to anticipate relevance for their findings in clinical applications.