Abstract
So-called modern diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's disease and others are closely related to glucose and lipid metabolism. Therefore, improvement of the internal environment might be an effective therapeutic approach for these modern diseases. Since retinoid X receptors (RXRs), which are nuclear receptors that act as ligand-dependent transcription factors, function as homodimers or heterodimers with other nuclear receptors, a wide variety of biological effects and therapeutic effects on the above described diseases can be expected. However, the past RXR agonists cause serious side effects such as blood triglyceride elevation, hypothyroidism and others. Our research group has been advocating a strategy of "revival drug discovery" to revive abandoned drug targets based on the idea to avoid the side effects of drugs. In this review, our past discovery research of drugs targeting RXRs will be introduced.
