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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Mar 4.
Published in final edited form as: Cancer Health Disparities. 2020;4:https://companyofscientists.com/index.php/chd/article/view/169/188.

Fig. 4. The interplay between GR and AR in the context of PCa.

Fig. 4

AR and GR belong to the same intracellular receptor family of transcriptional regulators and their DNA binding domains are highly conserved. GREs and AREs in the promoter regions of GR-and AR-target genes are also similar and are composed of a 15 base pair binding sequence with 2 hexamer half-sites separated by a 3 base pair spacer. GR expression is normally repressed in PCa cells in the presence of AR. However, an AR blockade removes GR inhibition and stimulates GR amplification allowing GR to interact with AREs and alter the expression of AR-target genes. This complex AR-GR interplay creates a major clinical dilemma as the effects of glucocorticoids can be beneficial and/or harmful to patients.