Glucose metabolism is balanced by glycolysis and gluconeogenesis with precise control in the liver. The expression of genes related to glucose metabolism is regulated primarily by glucose and insulin at transcriptional level. Nuclear receptors play important roles in regulating the gene expression of glucose metabolism at transcriptional level. Some of these nuclear receptors form heterodimers with RXRs to bind to their specific regulatory elements on the target promoters. To date, three isotypes of RXRs have been identified; RXR alpha, RXR beta and RXR gamma. However, their involvement in the interactions with other nuclear receptors in the liver remains unclear. In this study, we found RXR gamma is rapidly induced after feeding in the mouse liver, indicating a potential role of RXR gamma in controlling glucose or lipid metabolism in the fasting feeding cycle. In addition, RXR gamma expression was upregulated by glucose in primary hepatocytes. This implies that glucose metabolism governed by RXR gamma in conjunction with other nuclear receptors. The luciferase reporter assay showed that RXR gamma as well as RXR alpha increased SREBP-1c promoter activity in hepatocytes. These results suggest that RXR gamma may play an important role in tight control of glucose metabolism in the fasting feeding cycle. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.