English

Noun

glucocorticoid receptor ‎(plural glucocorticoid receptors)

1. (biochemistry) a protein found in multiple forms within cells, which binds glucocorticoids and subsequently influences gene transcription
   • 1972 Levinson, B. B.; Baxter, J. D.; Rousseau, G. G.; Tomkins, G. M. "Cellular site of glucocorticoid-receptor complex formation." Science 175, no. 18 (14 January 1972): 189–190, http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/175/4018/189 .

     The cellular site of binding of dexamethasone by specific glucocorticoid receptors in cultured hepatoma cells was investigated with the use of certain mercurials.

   • 2009 Zimmer, Carl. "Can Evolution Run in Reverse? A Study Says It’s a One-Way Street," New York Times, 28 September 2009 [cited 18 December 2009], Science section, online edition, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/science/29evol.html.

     They studied a protein called a glucocorticoid receptor that helps humans and most other vertebrates cope with stress by grabbing a hormone called cortisol and then switching on stress-defense genes.

Synonyms

• GCCR
• GCR
• GR
• GRL

Hypernyms

• nuclear hormone receptor

Hyponyms

• GR-alpha, GR-α
• GR-beta, GR-β
• GR-gamma

References

• Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, OMIM (TM). Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD. MIM Number: 138040: 15 September 2009: . World Wide Web URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/omim/ (specific entry archived at http://www.webcitation.org/5m7tIkXcj , 18 December 2009).
• Nussey, S. S. and Whitehead, S. A. The adrenal gland. In: Bosher, Andrea. Endocrinology: An Integrated Approach. Oxford, UK: BIOS Scientific Publishers; 2001 [cited 18 December 2009]. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bookshelf/br.fcgi?book=endocrin&part=A442#A468 .