期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：1999
卷号：96
期号：14
页码：8283-8288
DOI：10.1073/pnas.96.14.8283
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is a central regulator of the hormonal stress response, causing stimulation of corticotropin and glucocorticoid secretion. CRH is also widely believed to mediate stress-induced behaviors, implying a broader, integrative role for the hormone in the psychological stress response. Mice lacking the CRH gene exhibit normal stress-induced behavior that is specifically blocked by a CRH type 1 receptor antagonist. The other known mammalian ligand for CRH receptors is urocortin. Normal and CRH-deficient mice have an identical distribution of urocortin mRNA, which is confined to the region of the Edinger-Westphal nucleus, and is absent from regions known to mediate stress-related behaviors. Since the Edinger-Westphal nucleus is not known to project to any brain regions believed to play a role in anxiety-like behavior, an entirely different pathway must be postulated for urocortin in the Edinger-Westphal nucleus to mediate these behaviors in CRH-deficient mice. Alternatively, an unidentified CRH-like molecule other than CRH or urocortin, acting through the CRH receptors in brain regions believed to mediate stress-induced behaviors, may mediate the behavioral response to stress, either alone or in concert with CRH.
