Fig. 1

Glucocorticoid receptor activation. Upon entering into the cell, GCs are activated by 11β-HSD1 or occasionally inactivated by 11β-HSD2. The activated GCs bind to a cytoplasmic protein complex containing the GR and heat shock proteins. When complexed with Hsp90, the affinity of GR is increased, while when complexed with Hsp70 and Hsp40, its affinity is decreased. Once GR combines with the ligand, the chaperone protein FKBP51 is exchanged for FKBP52, allowing the complex to shuttle into the nucleus and interact with the chromatin