The human glucocorticoid receptor gene NR3C1 covers a region of more than 80 kb in chromosome 5, containing eight coding exons (exons 2–9) and alternative 5′ noncoding exon 1s19–21. The 5′ untranslated region (UTR) of exon 1 of the NR3C1 gene determines the tissue-specific expression. The 5′ UTR of NR3C1 contains 11 exon 1 splice variants, all of which bear unique splice donor sites and share a common exon 2 splice acceptor site19. Exon 1F of NR3C1 is similar to the rat exon 17, which reveals a maternal effect on cytosine methylation and expression8,18,22. Because individuals with severe forms of major depression show decreased glucocorticoid receptor expression and increased HPA activity, we hypothesized that suicide victims would show decreased expression both of glucocorticoid receptor and glucocorticoid receptor 1F compared with control subjects.
