Mechanisms generating diversity in glucocorticoid receptor signaling.

Glucocorticoids regulate diverse biological processes throughout the body via the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Ligand-bound GR translocates into the nucleus and can elicit changes in gene expression by direct contact with the DNA or by protein-protein interactions with other transcription factors. The GR can also mediate rapid nongenomic signaling events initiated in the cytoplasm. In this chapter, we review the biological and physiological implications of glucocorticoids, the GR, and many of the signal transduction mechanisms that mediate their action.