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  • Year in Review
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Steroid hormones in 2013

Glucocorticoids—timing, binding and environment

2013 has revealed interesting mechanisms that explain how glucocorticoid signalling responses can be influenced by childhood trauma, activity of other signalling molecules, glucocorticoid circadian rhythms and the sequence of DNA regulatory regions. In particular, studies this year highlight how different signalling environments can determine the molecular and physiological responses of glucocorticoids themselves, and how glucocorticoids can affect other signalling systems.

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Figure 1: ER and GR bind to specific DNA binding sites to regulate the expression of their target genes (arrows indicate transcription).

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Correspondence to Stafford L. Lightman.

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Lightman, S., George, C. Glucocorticoids—timing, binding and environment. Nat Rev Endocrinol 10, 71–72 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2013.257

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