Glucocorticoid receptor: A potent cellular & gene therapy target for cancer and cancer stem cells

Abstract

Glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is expressed in the cytoplasm of almost all cells, if not all of cancer and non-cancer cells. Moreover, unlike many other factors implicated with cancer, it is neither overexpressed nor is it expressed on cell-membrane surface to qualify logically as a viable target for treating cancer. GR is importantly linked with alternate pathway of energy metabolism in cancer cells and our research indicated that cancer cells possibly tend to avoid activation of GR which would have otherwise instigate that energy demanding alternate pathway called gluconeogenesis. We discovered a way to induce cancer cell-selective GR-transactivation which leads to among many things, gluconeogenesis, reversal of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), drug- sensitization in drug-resistant cancer cells etc. Thus, we proved, although it warrants further studies, that GR in cancer cells behave differently and hence it can be a viable target for the treatment of cancer.