Function
Cortisol, a glucocorticoid, binds the glucocorticoid receptor. However, because of its molecular similarity to aldosterone it is also capable of binding the mineralcorticoid receptor. Both aldosterone and cortisol have a similar affinity for the mineralocorticoid receptor; however, there is vastly more cortisol in circulation than aldosterone. To prevent over-stimulation of the mineralocorticoid receptor by cortisol, HSD-11β converts the biologically active cortisol to the inactive cortisone, which can no longer bind to the mineralocorticoid receptor. HSD-11β co-localizes with intracellular adrenal steroid receptors. Licorice or Carbenoxolone, which contains glycyrrhetinic acid, can inhibit 11β-HSD and lead to a mineralocorticoid excess syndrome.
Read more about this topic: 11-Beta Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase
Famous quotes containing the word function:
“Morality and its victim, the mother—what a terrible picture! Is there indeed anything more terrible, more criminal, than our glorified sacred function of motherhood?”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)
“The intension of a proposition comprises whatever the proposition entails: and it includes nothing else.... The connotation or intension of a function comprises all that attribution of this predicate to anything entails as also predicable to that thing.”
—Clarence Lewis (1883–1964)
“The function of the actor is to make the audience imagine for the moment that real things are happening to real people.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)