title: Comparison of CRF-immunoreactive neurons distribution in mouse and rat brains and selective induction of Fos in rat hypothalamic CRF neurons by abdominal surgery.
abstract: Mice and rats are widely used in stress-related behavioral studies while little is known about the distribution of the stress hormone, corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in the mouse brain. We developed and characterized a novel rat/mouse CRF polyclonal antibody (CURE ab 200101) that was used to detect and compare the brain distributions of CRF immunoreactivity in naïve and colchicine-treated rats and mice. We also assessed whether the visceral stressor of abdominal surgery activated brain CRF neurons using double labeling of Fos/CRF in naïve rats. CRF-ir neurons were visualized in the cortex, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, central amygdala, hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN), Barrington's nucleus and dorsolateral tegmental area in naïve rats. CRF-immunoreactive (ir) neurons in the mouse brain were detected only after colchicine. The pattern shows fundamental similarity compared to the colchicine-treated rat brain, however, there were differences with a lesser distribution in both areas and density except in the lateral septum and external subnucleus of the lateral parabrachial nucleus which contained more CRF-ir neurons in mice, and CRF-ir neurons in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus were found only in mice. Abdominal surgery in naïve rats induced Fos-ir in 30% of total CRF-ir neurons in the PVN compared with control (anesthesia alone) while Fos was not co-localized with CRF in other brain nuclei. These data indicate that CRF-ir distribution in the brain displays similarity as well as distinct features in mice compared to rats that may underlie some differential stress responses. Abdominal surgery activates CRF-ir neurons selectively in the PVN of rats without colchicine treatment.
authors.affiliation: CURE:Digestive Diseases Research Center and Center for Neurobiology of Stress, Department of Medicine, Division of Digestive Diseases, University of California Los Angeles, VAGLAHS, Los Angeles, CA 90073, USA. lixinw@ucla.edu
authors.forename: Lixin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goebel-Stengel
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stengel
authors.forename: S Vincent
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Gordon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ohning
authors.forename: Yvette
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Taché
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen / Q000601:surgery; D029845:Amphibian Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D002452:Cell Count; D003078:Colchicine / Q000494:pharmacology; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000378:metabolism*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D016761:Oncogene Proteins v-fos / Q000378:metabolism*; D036361:Peptide Hormones / Q000378:metabolism; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D051381:Rats; D013045:Species Specificity; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D050257:Tubulin Modulators / Q000494:pharmacology; D014579:Urotensins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D029845:Amphibian Proteins; D016761:Oncogene Proteins v-fos; D036361:Peptide Hormones; D050257:Tubulin Modulators; D014579:Urotensins; C025727:sauvagine; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone; D003078:Colchicine