p0005 Corticotropin-releasing hormone [CRH; also referred to as corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)] is a member of a family of related peptides in vertebrates that includes the fish urotensins-I, frog sauvagine, and the urocortin/stresscopin peptides. CRF was first named for its stimulatory effect on corticotropin [also known as adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)] secretion from the anterior ...

In the course of fractionation of neurohypophysial extracts in search for corticotropin-releasing factor (1) we sometimes observed materials with low pressor activity, consistent corticotropin-releasing activity, and with the same molar ratios of amino acids as lysine-vasopressin. In view of the report by Ressler on a possible dimerkation of oxytocin (2), it was decided to investigate these mat...

Peptides of the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) family are expressed throughout the central nervous system (CNS) and in peripheral tissues where they play diverse roles in physiology, behavior, and development. Current data supports the existence of four paralogous genes in vertebrates that encode CRF, urocortin/urotensin 1, urocortin 2 or urocortin 3. Corticotropin-releasing factor is the...

The term 'learned helplessness' refers to a constellation of behavioral changes that follow exposure to stressors that are not controllable by means of behavioral responses, but that fail to occur if the stressor is controllable. This paper discusses the nature of learned helplessness, as well as the role of the dorsal raphe nucleus, serotonin, and corticotropin-releasing hormone in mediating t...