Current molecular understanding of estrogen action has greatly profited from advances in molecular cell biology. These advances, and their implications for clinical use, were discussed by leading researchers from industry and academia during an international symposium held in Berlin, 1-3 March 2006 and are featured in this volume.

Zusammenfassung
Nuclear hormone receptors are not only important drug targets, but have also been the focus of decades of active and highly insightful research. Ten years ago, a review on nuclear receptors was entitled The Second Decade and a special issue of Molecular Endocrinology in 2005 dealt with the results of these research efforts. The consensus from nuclear receptor research was of course that the signaling pathways mediated by these receptors warrant further research, even though in principle they appeared to represent the most immediate, seemingly simple signaling pathway from hormone (ligand) binding to gene expression changes. In nuclear receptor molecular biology, estrogen receptor research has additional unique facets: since the discovery of ethinyl estradiol by Inhoffen and Hohlweg in the laboratories of Schering AG in the 1930sand therefore several decades longer than nuclear receptor - searchitselfestrogenreceptorshavebeentargetsofwidelyused,orally administered drugs. Thus, accumulating clinical experience on estrogen action in vivo helps to support the progress in molecular biological research.

Inhalt
Interfering with the Dynamics of Estrogen Receptor-Regulated Transcription.- Actions of Estrogen and Estrogen Receptors in Nonclassical Target Tissues.- Genetic Dissection of Estrogen Receptor Signaling In Vivo.- Of Mice and Men: The Many Guises of Estrogens.- Estradiol Action in Atherosclerosis and Reendothelialization.- Functional Effects and Molecular Mechanisms of Subtype-Selective ER? and ER? Agonists in the Cardiovascular System.- Pathogenesis and Therapy of Rheumatoid Arthritis.- The Role of ER? and ER? in theProstate: Insights from Genetic Models and Isoform-Selective Ligands.- Preclinical Characterization of Selective Estrogen Receptor ? Agonists: New Insights into Their Therapeutic Potential.- Exploiting Nongenomic Estrogen Receptor-Mediated Signaling for the Development of Pathway-Selective Estrogen Receptor Ligands.