Summary
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1.
Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) appears to be a potentially important signal molecule in both vertebrate and invertebrate neuroimmune and autoimmunoregulatory processes. It appears to mimic the effects ofα-melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH) but has a longer duration of action.
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2.
α-Helical CRF, a specific inhibitor of CRF, antagonizes CRF-induced cellular immunosupression but is ineffective in altering MSH-induced immunosuppression.
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Both human andMytilus immunocytes appear to have specific CRF receptors.
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4.
In another experiment, both CRF and MSH antagonize tumor necrosis factor stimulation of immunocytes. Again,α-helical CRF antagonizes only CRF activity, further suggesting the presence of a separate CRF receptor on these cells.
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Smith, E.M., Hughes, T.K., Cadet, P. et al. Corticotropin-releasing factor-induced immunosuppression in human and invertebrate immunocytes. Cell Mol Neurobiol 12, 473–481 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00711548
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00711548