Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone: Biology and Therapeutic Opportunities.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Caruso, Alessandra Gaetano, Alessandra Scaccianoce, Sergio
Editor	Kwok, Hang Fai
Copyright Year	2022
Abstract	Simple SummaryEarly neuroendocrine studies on corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), or corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), were focused on investigating its role in regulating the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. In the following years, the characterization of CRH receptors and the availability of specific CRH agonists and antagonists have provided evidence that CRH plays a role in the regulation of several biological systems, as well as in reproduction, neuropsychiatric, gastrointestinal, and immune disorders and in the development of tumors. Further elucidation of the physiology of CRH will facilitate characterization of its role in human pathophysiology and exploit the potential of ligands for CRH receptors as novel therapeutic targets.AbstractIn 1981, Wylie Vale, Joachim Spiess, Catherine Rivier, and Jean Rivier reported on the characterization of a 41-amino-acid peptide from ovine hypothalamic extracts with high potency and intrinsic activity stimulating the secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone and β-endorphin by cultured anterior pituitary cells. With its sequence known, this neuropeptide was determined to be a hormone and consequently named corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), although the term corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) is still used and preferred in some circumstances. Several decades have passed since this seminal contribution that opened a new research era, expanding the understanding of the coding of stress-related processes. The characterization of CRH receptors, the availability of CRH agonists and antagonists, and advanced immunocytochemical staining techniques have provided evidence that CRH plays a role in the regulation of several biological systems. The purpose of this review is to summarize the present knowledge of this 41-amino-acid peptide.
Volume Number	11
PubMed Central reference number	PMC9775501
Issue Number	12
PubMed reference number	36552294
Journal	Biology [Biology (Basel)]
e-ISSN	20797737
DOI	10.3390/biology11121785
Language	English
Publisher	MDPI
Publisher Date	2022-12-08
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). © 2022 by the authors.
Subject Keyword	corticotropin-releasing hormone CRH stress reproduction
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Immunology and Microbiology Agricultural and Biological Sciences Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology