The roles of orphan nuclear receptors in the development and function of the immune system.

Hormones and their receptors regulate cell growth, differentiation and apoptosis and also play important roles in immune function. Recent studies on the subfamily of the orphan nuclear receptors known as retinoid-acid related orphan receptors (ROR) have shed important insights on the roles of this group of nuclear proteins in the development and function of the immune system. RORalpha regulates inflammatory cytokine production in both innate and adaptive immune system while RORgamma regulates the normal development of T lymphocyte repertoire and secondary lymphoid organs.