Structure and function of the glucocorticoid receptor

The glucocorticoid receptor protein is a transcriptional regulatory protein that interacts with specific enhancer sequences. A stoichiometric analysis of the interaction indicates an equimolar relationship between the receptor protein and the specific enhancer sequences. The activity of the receptor protein is itself regulated by the binding of glucocorticoids. The two functional domains (DNA-binding and steroid-binding) are adjacent and lie within the C-terminal half of the receptor protein. The N-terminal half of the protein appears to modulate the interaction with DNA but does not have any role in the binding of the steroid. The functional domains have also been defined at the sequence level.