Retinoic acid receptor alpha

Retinoic acid receptor alpha (RAR-α), also known as NR1B1 (nuclear receptor subfamily 1, group B, member 1) is a nuclear receptor that in humans is encoded by the RARA gene.

Function

Retinoid signaling is transduced by 2 families of nuclear receptors, retinoic acid receptor (RAR) and retinoid X receptor (RXR), which form RXR/RAR heterodimers. In the absence of ligand, DNA-bound RXR/RARA represses transcription by recruiting the corepressors NCOR1, SMRT (NCOR2), and histone deacetylase. When ligand binds to the complex, it induces a conformational change allowing the recruitment of coactivators, histone acetyltransferases, and the basic transcription machinery.

Clinical significance

Translocations that always involve rearrangement of the RARA gene are a cardinal feature of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL; MIM 612376). The most frequent translocation is t(15,17)(q21;q22), which fuses the RARA gene with the PML gene.

Interactions

Retinoic acid receptor alpha has been shown to interact with:

• BAG1,
• CLOCK,
• CCND3,
• NCOA6,
• NCOR1,
• NCOR2,
• NPAS2,
• NRIP1,
• NR0B2,
• NR4A2,
• PML
• RXRA.
• Src,
• TADA3L, and
• ZBTB16.

See also

• Retinoic acid receptor
• Acute promyelocytic leukemia

Further reading

This article incorporates text from the United States National Library of Medicine, which is in the public domain.