Introduction by the Editor-in-Chief

Emerging evidence has shown steroid binding globulins to possess a hitherto unrecognized range of functions. Not only passive carriers, they may actively join the game along with their steroids.

This volume reviews and provides new evidence for the concept that steroid-binding globulins go far beyond playing a passive role in releasing steroids to diffuse into cells, but are actively involved in steroid uptake while likely binding to their own membrane-associated proteins. These newly discovered proteins with names such as megalin and cubilin that sound more like they come from video games may mediate the actions of steroids and binding globulins.

Guest-edited by Professors Jack Caldwell from the University of Illinois, USA and Gustav Jirikowski from the University of Jena, Germany, this volume includes reviews on the roles of sex hormone-binding globulin, androgen-binding protein, retinol-binding protein, and corticosteroid-binding globulin in peripheral tissues and the brain.

There are original articles on binding globulins themselves appearing in new and interesting places such as corticosteroid binding globulin expressed in the brain and androgen-binding protein in the heart.

All these data highlight the emerging roles of steroid-binding globulins, suggesting a complex network of genomic and non-genomic steroid actions. I invite you to explore this exciting area of endocrinology in this volume.

Werner A. Scherbaum
Editor-in-Chief