Probing Dominant Negative Behavior of Glucocorticoid Receptor beta through a Hybrid Structural and Biochemical Approach.
Min, J., Perera, L., Krahn, J.M., Jewell, C.M., Moon, A.F., Cidlowski, J.A., Pedersen, L.C.(2018) Mol Cell Biol 
- PubMed: 29437838 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/MCB.00453-17
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
5UC1 - PubMed Abstract: 
Glucocorticoid receptor ¦Â (GR¦Â) is associated with glucocorticoid resistance via dominant negative regulation of GR¦Á. To better understand how GR¦Â functions as a dominant negative inhibitor of GR¦Á at a molecular level, we determined the crystal structure of the ligand binding domain of GR¦Â complexed with the antagonist RU-486. The structure reveals that GR¦Â binds RU-486 in the same ligand binding pocket as GR¦Á, and the unique C-terminal amino acids of GR¦Â are mostly disordered. Binding energy analysis suggests that these C-terminal residues of GR¦Â do not contribute to RU-486 binding. Intriguingly, the GR¦Â/RU-486 complex binds corepressor peptide with affinity similar to that of a GR¦Á/RU-486 complex, despite the lack of helix 12. Our biophysical and biochemical analyses reveal that in the presence of RU-486, GR¦Â is found in a conformation that favors corepressor binding, potentially antagonizing GR¦Á function. This study thus presents an unexpected molecular mechanism by which GR¦Â could repress transcription.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Genome Integrity and Structural Biology Laboratory, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA.