Steroid Hormone Action is a comprehensive overview of the molecular mechanisms by which these hormones regulate the expression of specific target genes. The book covers the structure of steroid receptors, transcriptional activation and repression, and also contains chapters on steroid binding proteins and steroidogenesis. Steroid receptors represent one of the best characterized transcription factors so that the book will be of general interest to molecular biologists studying eukaryotic gene regulation. Chapters on the mechanisms of action of steroid antagonists and defective receptors in target cells will be of particular interest to endocrinologists and clinicians. In such a rapidly progressing field it is difficult to keep up with all the literature. Written by international experts, this book focuses on the most important advances that have been made recently.