Final answer:
The binding of a steroid hormone to its receptor inside a cell leads to the transcription of specific genes, resulting in the production of proteins that carry out the hormone's effects.
Step-by-step explanation:
The binding of a steroid hormone to its receptor would lead to the transcription of the DNA for the gene that is "turned on" by this event. When a steroid hormone enters a cell, it passes through the plasma membrane and binds to intracellular receptors in the cytoplasm or nucleus.
The result is a hormone-receptor complex that can then enter the nucleus (if it formed in the cytoplasm) and bind to specific DNA sequences, known as response elements, in the promoter regions of target genes.
This binding usually acts to activate transcription of the gene, leading to the production of mRNA, which then directs the synthesis of specific proteins that carry out the effects of the hormone within the cell. This is distinct from non-steroid hormone action which typically involves second-messenger systems such as cAMP.