title: Glucocorticoids and Reproduction: Traffic Control on the Road to Reproduction.
abstract: Glucocorticoids are steroid hormones that regulate diverse cellular functions and are essential to facilitate normal physiology. However, stress-induced levels of glucocorticoids result in several pathologies including profound reproductive dysfunction. Compelling new evidence indicates that glucocorticoids are crucial to the establishment and maintenance of reproductive function. The fertility-promoting or -inhibiting activity of glucocorticoids depends on timing, dose, and glucocorticoid responsiveness within a given tissue, which is mediated by the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). The GR gene and protein are subject to cellular processing, contributing to signaling diversity and providing a mechanism by which both physiological and stress-induced levels of glucocorticoids function in a cell-specific manner. Understanding how glucocorticoids regulate fertility and infertility may lead to novel approaches to the regulation of reproductive function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA. Electronic address: shannon.whirledge@yale.edu.
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Whirledge
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Signal Transduction, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, 111 TW Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA. Electronic address: cidlows1@niehs.nih.gov.
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Cidlowski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005298:Fertility / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid / Q000378:metabolism*; D012098:Reproduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid