FIG. 1. The central role of glucocorticoid receptor in the biological functions of cortisol. Cortisol (CORT) enters the cytosol by passive diffusion and binds to the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) which is a dynamic multiprotein complex composed of an array of chaperones. These have inhibitory as well as facilitatory actions and induce conformational change, homodimerization and translocation of the glucocorticoid receptor. The GR homodimer shuttles to the nucleus where it binds to glucocorticoid response element (GRE) on the promoter region of the DNA resulting in gene expression. This attachment to the GRE is facilitated by steroid receptor coactivator-1 (SRC-1); the subsequent gene transcription plays diverse roles in physiological functioning. FKBP: FK506 binding protein, BAG 1: Bcl-2-associated gene product-1, PPID: petidylprolyl isomerase D.