Protein / target
Glucocorticoid receptor
Protein at a glance
Biological role
Sequence-specific double-stranded DNA binding
Primary system
Nervous system
Strongest disease association
glucocorticoid resistance
Therapeutic maturity
Clinically validated target
Druggability
Small molecule
Clinical development
55 approved · 14 in clinical development
Derived from structured UniProt, Open Targets and literature data on this page.
Protein profile
Canonical identity and biological annotation from UniProt.
Function
Receptor for glucocorticoids (GC) (PubMed:27120390, PubMed:37478846). Has a dual mode of action: as a transcription factor that binds to glucocorticoid response elements (GRE), both for nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, and as a modulator of other transcription factors (PubMed:28139699). Affects inflammatory responses, cellular proliferation and differentiation in target tissues. Involved in chromatin remodeling (PubMed:9590696). Plays a role in rapid mRNA degradation by binding to the 5' UTR of target mRNAs and interacting with PNRC2 in a ligand-dependent manner which recruits the RNA helicase UPF1 and the mRNA-decapping enzyme DCP1A, leading to RNA decay (PubMed:25775514). Could act as a coactivator for STAT5-dependent transcription upon growth hormone (GH) stimulation and could reveal an essential role of hepatic GR in the control of body growth (By similarity)
Subcellular location
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (56)Hide
Domains & features
Gene Ontology
- Ccentrosome
- Cchromatin
- Ccytoplasm
- Ccytosol
- Cmembrane
- Cmitochondrial matrix
- Cmitochondrion
- Cnuclear speck
- Cnucleoplasm
- Cnucleus
- Cprotein-containing complex
- Cspindle
Biological roles
What this protein does, drawn together from its UniProt function, Gene Ontology terms and Reactome pathways.
View supporting evidenceHide supporting evidence
Transcriptional regulation
- ·Receptor for glucocorticoids (GC) (PubMed:27120390, PubMed:37478846). Has a dual mode of…
- ·DNA-binding transcription activator activity, RNA polymerase II-specific
- ·DNA-binding transcription factor activity
- ·DNA-binding transcription factor activity, RNA polymerase II-specific
Nuclear receptor signalling
- ·DNA-binding transcription factor activity
- ·DNA-binding transcription factor activity, RNA polymerase II-specific
- ·nuclear receptor activity
- ·nuclear receptor-mediated steroid hormone signaling pathway
Immune signalling
- ·Receptor for glucocorticoids (GC) (PubMed:27120390, PubMed:37478846). Has a dual mode of…
- ·neuroinflammatory response
Synaptic signalling
- ·synapse
- ·synaptic transmission, glutamatergic
Excitatory neurotransmission
- ·synaptic transmission, glutamatergic
Kinase signalling
- ·protein kinase binding
View underlying pathways (8)Hide underlying pathways
Concepts derived from UniProt GO Reactome — each badge above shows which sources supported that role.
Interaction neighbourhood
Proteins with the strongest functional or physical association. Node size and line weight reflect STRING confidence; hover or select a partner to inspect one association.
Functional and physical associations from STRING v12.0. Only associations with this protein are drawn — partner-to-partner links are not part of this evidence.
Drugs targeting this protein
Whether each drug engages this protein directly or through a complex, and how many other targets are recorded for it. Direct binders with few recorded targets are listed first.
Glucocorticoid receptor agonist
Appears in clinical studies involving inflammation, otitis externa, skin disorder, osteoarthritis
Glucocorticoid receptor agonist
Appears in clinical studies involving infection, inflammation, Corneal scarring, cancer
Glucocorticoid receptor agonist
Appears in clinical studies involving sarcoidosis, osteoarthritis, asthma, juvenile idiopathic arthritis
Glucocorticoid receptor agonist
Appears in clinical studies involving sarcoidosis, trichinosis, choroiditis, asthma
Glucocorticoid receptor antagonist
Appears in clinical studies involving prostate cancer, Hot flashes, prostate adenocarcinoma, endometriosis
Glucocorticoid receptor agonist
Appears in clinical studies involving ulcerative colitis, Nasal congestion, seasonal allergic rhinitis, asthma
Glucocorticoid receptor agonist
Appears in clinical studies involving osteoarthritis, inflammation, multiple sclerosis, asthma
Glucocorticoid receptor antagonist
Appears in clinical studies involving Cushing syndrome, psychotic disorder, major depressive disorder, Uterine leiomyoma
ChEMBL mechanism, action type and target identity. Open Targets clinical status and indications.
Translational evidence
Why this target matters therapeutically — disease associations, drugs in development, tractability and safety, from Open Targets.
Strongest genetic associations
Human genetic evidence — the most direct causal link between this target and a disease.
Highest-confidence therapeutic associations
Diseases where a drug acting on this target has already reached clinical development.
Highest overall evidence
Remaining associations by Open Targets' aggregated evidence score.
Show all associationsHide all associations
Open Targets ranks 2,047 associations for this target and we store the top 10 by aggregated score. The long tail is largely literature co-mention and RNA-expression evidence, not evidence that this target drives those diseases.
Known drugs · 71 total
skin disorder · hemorrhoid · allergic rhinitis
optic nerve disorder · multiple sclerosis
asthma · acute lymphoblastic leukemia · acute leukemia of ambiguous lineage
dermatitis · anemia · asthma
skin disorder
allergic rhinitis · asthma · perennial allergic rhinitis
rheumatoid arthritis
skin disorder · psoriasis vulgaris · inflammation
ulcerative colitis · Nasal congestion · seasonal allergic rhinitis
Tractability
Safety liabilities
Clinical trials
Trials of drugs that target this protein — reached indirectly through those drugs, so a trial listed here studies the drug, not the protein.
Show remaining trials (24)Hide
ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.
Related literature
Papers indexed under “Receptors, Glucocorticoid” — a subject heading that covers this protein without being specific to it. Shown as context; not counted as this protein's own research activity.
Europe PMC literature, reached through a MeSH descriptor linked to this protein.
Forefront confidence
Our own weighting of the evidence behind each disease association. Human genetics and clinical evidence count for most; literature co-mention counts for little, because two entities sharing an abstract is not evidence that one drives the other.
The evidence agreement range shows how closely the independent evidence families agree — it is not a statistical confidence interval, and nothing here is fitted to outcome data. Derived from Open Targets evidence types under Forefront weighting; the underlying per-type scores are shown above so the calculation can be checked.
What's happening now
Recent activity around this target, drawn from one canonical event stream. Every item is reached through 8 drugs that target this protein, so each event is news about that drug rather than about the protein directly.
- Trial status changed
64407564MMY3009: A Phase 3 Randomized Study Comparing Talquetamab in Combination With Pomalidomide (Tal-P), Talquetamab in Combination With Teclistamab (Tal-Tec), and Investigator's Choice of Either Elotuzumab, Pomalidomide, and Dexamethasone (EPd) or Pom
- Regulatory actionBiotech industry leaders file brief backing FDA against ‘malicious’ mifepristone challenge
- Regulatory approval
Approval: HYDROCORTISONE (ANDA218298)
- Regulatory approval
Approval: PREDNISONE (ANDA218035)
- Label change
Label change: METHYLPREDNISOLONE (ANDA207549)
- Label change
Label change: METHYLPREDNISOLONE (ANDA210985)
- Product recall
Recall (Class II): BUDESONIDE
- New publicationNiraparib and abiraterone acetate plus prednisone for HRR-deficient metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer: a randomized phase 3 trial.
- New publicationThe cortisol axis and psychiatric disorders: an updated review.
- New publicationLong-term Safety and Efficacy of Budesonide Oral Suspension for Eosinophilic Esophagitis: A 4-Year, Phase 3, Open-Label Study.
- Label change
Label change: METHYLPREDNISOLONE (ANDA210985)
- Label change
Label change: METHYLPREDNISOLONE (ANDA210985)
Objective event titles are shown unmodified; the event kind and significance line are derived from structured fields. Forefront AttentionEvent stream aggregating Europe PMC Regulatory filings ClinicalTrials.gov.