title: Cloning and functional expression of a rat brain corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) receptor.
abstract: Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF), a key neuroregulator of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal cortical axis, also displays a broad range of effects on the endocrine, central nervous and immune systems. Having recently characterized the human pituitary CRF receptor by expression cloning of cDNA from a human Cushing's corticotropic adenoma, we report here the structure of the cDNA for a rat brain CRF receptor (rCRF-R) which was cloned by hybridization from a rat brain cDNA library. The sequence of the rCRF-R encodes a 415 amino acid protein comprising seven membrane spanning domains. The rCRF-R is 97% identical at the amino acid level to the human pituitary tumor CRF receptor, differing by only 12 amino acids. When expressed in COSM6 cells, the rCRF-R binds CRF with high affinity (Kd = 1.7 (0.8-3.8)nM). The receptor transduces a CRF stimulated accumulation of intracellular cAMP which is inhibited by the CRF antagonist, alpha helCRF(9-41). These results suggest that the brain expresses a CRF receptor similar to that in the pituitary.
authors.affiliation: Clayton Foundation Laboratories for Peptide Biology, Salk Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037.
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Perrin
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Donaldson
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: W W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Vale
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D007425:Intracellular Membranes / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011869:Radioligand Assay; D051381:Rats; D018019:Receptors, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018019:Receptors, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone; D000242:Cyclic AMP