Biology and therapeutic applications of peroxisome proliferator- activated receptors

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are ligand dependent transcription factors. The three mammalian PPARs are key regulators of fatty acid and lipoprotein metabolism, glucose homeostasis, cellular proliferation/ differentiation and the immune response. PPARs are therefore important t...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Authors: Menendez-Gutierrez, Maria Piedad, Roszer, Tamas, Ricote, Mercedes
Format: article
Publication Date:2012
Country:España
Institution:Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)
Repository:Repisalud
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:repisalud.isciii.es:20.500.12105/9876
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12105/9876
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Animals
Humans
Ligands
Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptors
Molecular Targeted Therapy
Description
Summary:Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are ligand dependent transcription factors. The three mammalian PPARs are key regulators of fatty acid and lipoprotein metabolism, glucose homeostasis, cellular proliferation/ differentiation and the immune response. PPARs are therefore important targets in the treatment of metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus, and are also of interest in relation to chronic inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis, arthritis, chronic pulmonary inflammation, pancreatitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis. Recent advances have attributed novel functions to PPARs in blood pressure regulation, neuroinflammation, nerve-cell protection, inflammatory pain reduction, and the hypothalamic control of metabolism. The abundant pleiotropic actions of PPARs suggest that PPAR agonists have enormous therapeutic potential. However, current PPAR-based therapies often have undesired side effects due to the concomitant activation of PPARs in non-target cells. There is therefore growing interest in the development of cell-specific PPAR agonists and improvement of the clinical use of PPAR ligands. This review gives an overview of PPAR functions and discusses the current and potential medical implications of PPAR ligands in various pathologies, ranging from metabolic disorders to cardiovascular disease, chronic inflammation, neurodegenerative disorders and cancer.