Glucocorticoid

**Semantic type:** Hormone|Organic Chemical

**Definition:** A corticosteroid that supports a variety of cardiovascular, metabolic, immunologic, and homeostatic functions, and which binds specifically to the glucocorticoid receptor (GR; NR3C1). Glucocorticoid binding to GR leads to the transportation of the activated receptor-glucocorticoid complex to the nucleus, after which it binds to glucocorticoid response elements (GRE) and regulates the expression of GR-responsive genes.

**Synonyms:** - glucocorticoid