Glucocorticoids (GCs) are a class of steroid hormones that regulate key physiological processes such as metabolism, immune function, and stress responses. The effects of GCs are mediated by the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), a ligand-dependent transcription factor that activates or represses the expression of hundreds to thousands of genes in a tissue- and physiological state-specific manner. The activity of GR is modulated by numerous coregulator proteins that interact with GR in response to different stimuli assembling into a multitude of DNA-protein complexes and facilitate the integration of these signals, helping GR to communicate with basal transcriptional machinery and chromatin. Here, we provide a brief overview of the physiological and molecular functions of GR, and discuss the roles of GR coregulators in the immune system, key metabolic tissues and the central nervous system. We also present an analysis of the GR interactome in different cells and tissues, which suggests tissue-specific utilization of GR coregulators, despite widespread functions shared by some of them.

糖皮质激素 (GC) 是一类类固醇激素，可调节新陈代谢、免疫功能和应激反应等关键生理过程。GC 的作用是由糖皮质激素受体 (GR) 介导的，糖皮质激素受体是一种配体依赖性转录因子，以组织和生理状态特异性方式激活或抑制数百至数千个基因的表达。GR 的活性受到众多辅助调节蛋白的调节，这些辅助调节蛋白与 GR 相互作用，响应不同的刺激，组装成大量 DNA-蛋白复合物，并促进这些信号的整合，帮助 GR 与基础转录机制和染色质进行通信。在此，我们简要概述GR的生理和分子功能，并讨论GR辅助调节因子在免疫系统、关键代谢组织和中枢神经系统中的作用。我们还对不同细胞和组织中的 GR 相互作用组进行了分析，这表明 GR 共调节器的组织特异性利用，尽管其中一些共调节器具有广泛的功能。