Retinoids

Retinoids, such as Accutane TM work at the molecular level, by entering cells and binding to nuclear receptors, which are just receptors found within the nucleus, control centre, of a cell. These receptors, termed retinoic acid receptor (RAR) and retinoid X receptor (RXR), are members of the steroid-thyroid hormone superfamily. These receptors are ligand-dependent transcription factors which bind retinoids in pairs as either homodimers or heterodimers, in order to become functional. Subsequently, these dimers can then bind to retinoid-responsive elements in the promoter regions of genes and modulate and alter gene expression of inflammatory cells and pro-inflammatory molecules.

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