A
hormone response element (HRE) is a short sequence of
DNA within the
promoter of a gene that is able to bind a specific
hormone receptor complex and therefore regulate
transcription. The sequence is most commonly a pair of
inverted repeats separated by three nucleotides, which also indicates that the receptor binds as a
dimer. Specifically, HRE responds to steroid hormones, as the activated steroid receptor is the transcription factor binding HRE. This regulates the transcription of genes signaled by the steroid hormone.