Dynamics of the Androgen Receptor in Living Cells

The action of androgens, such as testosterone or dihydrotestosterone is required for development and maintenance of the male phenotype. Androgens exert their action through the androgen receptor (AR), a member of the steroid receptor family of nuclear receptors that function as ligand activated transcription factors. In this thesis we investigated the dynamics of ARs in its most relevant context: the living cell. Chapter 1 is an introduction is given into the molecular structure of the AR and the diseases associated with dysfunction of the receptor. Like all other steroid receptors, the AR has a modular structure and consists of an N-terminal transactivating domain (NTD), a central DNA binding domain (DBD), which is linked by a hinge region containing nuclear localization signal (NLS) sequences to the C-terminal ligand-binding domain (LBD). The three diseases in which the AR plays a major role are androgen insensitivity syndrome, Kennedy’s disease and prostate cancer.