The glucocorticoid receptor (GR, or GCR) also known as NR3C1 (nuclear receptorsubfamily 3, group C, member 1) is the receptor to which cortisol and other glucocorticoids bind.
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 factorsfrom the cytosol into the nucleus).
In humans, the GR protein is encoded by NR3C1 gene which is located on chromosome 5 (5q31).[7][8]