The GR is expressed in almost every cell in the body and regulates genes controlling the development, metabolism, and immune response. Because the receptor gene is expressed in several forms, it has many different (pleiotropic) effects in different parts of the body.
When glucocorticoids bind to GR, its primary mechanism of action is the regulation of gene transcription.[5][6] The unbound receptor resides in the cytosol of the cell. After the receptor is bound to glucocorticoid, the receptor-glucocorticoid complex can take either of two paths. The activated GR complex up-regulates the expression of anti-inflammatory proteins in the nucleus or represses the expression of pro-inflammatory proteins in the cytosol (by preventing the translocation of other transcription factors from the cytosol into the nucleus).
^"Human PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
^"Mouse PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
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^Rhen T, Cidlowski JA (October 2005). "Antiinflammatory action of glucocorticoids--new mechanisms for old drugs". The New England Journal of Medicine. 353 (16): 1711–1723. doi:10.1056/NEJMra050541. PMID16236742. S2CID5744727.