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.