Peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1 is broadly involved in several key cellular pathways including mitochondrial biogenesis, hepatic gluconeogenesis via interacting with many transcription factors, which is highly valuable to maintain the energy balance of organisms. This review especially focuses on the recent progress in the molecular docking, histone acetylation, RNA processing basing on the structure of PGC-1 gene and amino acid sequence. Besides, the prospect of PGC-1 in applications of metabolic syndromes has been discussed also.