Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters journal homepage: www.elsevier.com The transcriptional repressor REV-ERB as a novel target for disease Amaia Uriz-Huarte a, Amrita Date a, Heather Ang b, Simak Alic, Hugh J. M. Brady b and Matthew J. Fuchter a* a Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, Molecular Sciences Research Hub, White City Campus, Wood Lane, London W12 0BZ, UK b Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ, UK c Division of Cancer, Department of Surgery & Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, W12 0NN, UK Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 (0)20 7594 5815; e-mail:
[email protected] ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history: REV-ERB is a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily of transcription factors involved in the Received regulation of many physiological processes, from circadian rhythm, to immune function and Revised metabolism. Accordingly, REV-ERB has been considered as a promising, but difficult drug target Accepted for the treatment of numerous diseases. Here, we concisely review current understanding of the Available online function of REV-ERB, modulation by endogenous factors and synthetic ligands, and the involvement of REV-ERB in select human diseases. Particular focus is placed on the medicinal chemistry of synthetic REV-ERB ligands, which demonstrates the need for higher quality ligands to aid in robust validation of this exciting target. Keywords: REV-ERB, transcription factor, drug development 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. The misregulation of transcription plays a key role in the inherently druggable and have long been recognised as drug targets development and maintenance of many human diseases.