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Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone (CRH) Receptors in Brain

  • Chapter
Mechanisms of Physical and Emotional Stress

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 245))

Abstract

Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), a 41-amino acid peptide originally isolated from ovine hypothalami1, stimulates the release of proopiomelanocortin (POMC)-derived peptides from the pituitary gland (reviewed in2,3). More recently, the amino acid sequences of both rat4 and human5 CRH have been elucidated and were found to be identical to one another but to differ from ovine CRH by seven amino acid residues. In addition to its endocrine role at the pituitary, CRH has been demonstrated to have a broad extra-hypothalamic distribution in the central nervous system (CNS)6–8, and to produce a wide spectrum of autonomic9–11 and behavioral12–15 effects. The results of these studies have led to the suggestion that CRH may act as a neurotransmitter in the CNS, where it appears to play a role in integration of the organism’s response to stress. A neurotransmitter role for CRH in the rat CNS is further supported by several observations at the cellular level including its calcium-dependent release from brain slices following potassium stimulation16, the ability of CRH to alter neuronal firing rates following iontophoretic application17–19, and its ability to promote the formation of cyclic AMP (cAMP)20–22. In addition, recent clinical data suggest that this novel neuropeptide may be of relevance to endocrine, psychiatric and neurologic illnesses23. The actions of CRH in the CNS are presumed to be initiated by binding to high-affinity receptors for the neuropeptide.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuropeptide Unit, Neuroscience Branch, Addiction Research Center, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, Maryland, 21224, USA

    Errol B. De Souza & George Battaglia

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  1. Errol B. De Souza
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  2. George Battaglia
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  1. National Institute of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    George P. Chrousos , D. Lynn Loriaux  & Philip W. Gold ,  & 

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De Souza, E.B., Battaglia, G. (1988). Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone (CRH) Receptors in Brain. In: Chrousos, G.P., Loriaux, D.L., Gold, P.W. (eds) Mechanisms of Physical and Emotional Stress. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 245. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2064-5_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2064-5_9

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