Hypersecretion of central corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of affective disorders. Both, basic and clinical studies suggested that disrupting CRH ...signaling through CRH type 1 receptors (CRH-R1) can ameliorate stress-related clinical conditions. To study the effects of CRH-R1 blockade upon CRH-elicited behavioral and neurochemical changes we created different mouse lines overexpressing CRH in distinct spatially restricted patterns. CRH overexpression in the entire central nervous system, but not when overexpressed in specific forebrain regions, resulted in stress-induced hypersecretion of stress hormones and increased active stress-coping behavior reflected by reduced immobility in the forced swim test and tail suspension test. These changes were related to acute effects of overexpressed CRH as they were normalized by CRH-R1 antagonist treatment and recapitulated the effect of stress-induced activation of the endogenous CRH system. Moreover, we identified enhanced noradrenergic activity as potential molecular mechanism underlying increased active stress-coping behavior observed in these animals. Thus, these transgenic mouse lines may serve as animal models for stress-elicited pathologies and treatments that target the central CRH system.
After antigenic stimulation the increase in cytokine levels constitutes a fundamental event in the host defense and mediates many processes such as inflammation, B‐ and T‐cell growth and ...differentiation and activation of effector cells. Most of these processes depend on the cytokine‐induced activation of transcription factors that modulate the expression of target genes. Cytokines induce a rise in glucocorticoid levels, which are instrumental in controlling immune–cytokine overreactions. Because of their anti‐inflammatory and immunosuppressive actions, glucocorticoids are highly useful as therapeutic drugs in a range of diseases. The cross‐talk between cytokine‐induced transcription factors such as nuclear factor‐κB, activating protein‐1, cAMP responsive element binding protein and nuclear factor of activated T cells, and glucocorticoid receptors involves both genomic and non‐genomic actions, and constitutes the mechanism by which glucocorticoid repressive effects on cytokine synthesis and action take place. These molecular interactions represent the key for the study of physiological compensatory actions of corticosteroids, the interactions of cytokines and glucocorticoids at their target cells, as well as the therapeutic benefits and side‐effects of synthetic steroids. For this reason, we will focus on the molecular aspects of cytokine–glucocorticoid interactions, represented by the cross‐coupling between cytokine‐mediated transcription factors and glucocorticoid receptors.
Abstract Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) coordinates neuroendocrine and behavioral adaptations to stress. Acute CRH administration in vivo activates extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 ...(ERK1/2) in limbic brain areas, acting through the CRH receptor type 1 (CRH-R1). In the present study, we used CRH-COE-Cam mice that overexpress CRH in limbic-restricted areas, to analyze the effect of chronic CRH overexpression on ERK1/2 activation. By immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy analysis we found that pERK1/2 levels in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) were similar in control and CRH overexpressing mice under basal conditions. Acute stress caused comparably increased levels of corticosterone in both control (CRH-COEcon -Cam) and CRH overexpressing (CRH-COEhom -Cam) animals. CRH-COEhom -Cam mice after stress showed reduced pERK1/2 immunoreactivity in the BLA compared to CRH-COEhom -Cam animals under basal conditions. Radioligand binding and in situ hybridization revealed higher density of CRH-R1 in the amygdala of CRH-COEhom mice under basal conditions compared to control littermates. A significant reduction of the receptor levels was observed in this area after acute stress, suggesting that stress may trigger CRH-R1 internalization/downregulation in these CRH overexpressing mice. Chronic CRH overexpression leads to reduced ERK1/2 activation in response to acute stress in the BLA.
The corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) possesses a dual property acting as a secretagogue controlling the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and as a neuromodulator within extrahypothalmic ...sites in order to orchestrate the neuroendocrine and behavioral adaptation to stress. However, it is largely unclear, which neurotransmitter systems are direct targets of CRH and which neurotransmitter circuits are involved in modulating CRH-R1-dependent behaviors. In order to ultimately dissect the neurotransmitter identity of neurons expressing the CRHR1 we comprehensively mapped CRHR1 expression throughout the brain by histochemical means and by using a newly developed CRHR1-EGFP reporter mouse line. We fully recapitulated these mapping results by applying a genetic strategy where we selectively ablated CRH-R1 in glutamatergic, GABAergic, dopaminergic or serotonergic circuits of the mouse brain or in the entire CNS – an approach which subsequently allowed us to delineate the specific impact of each neurotransmitter system on CRH-R1-dependent behaviors and HPA-axis functioning. Using these mouse lines we found that anxiogenic effects of CRHR1 are mediated by glutamatergic neurotransmission in the forebrain and uncovered a previously unknown anxiolytic role of CRHR1 that is mediated by dopaminergic circuits of the midbrain. Finally, the endocrinological profile observed in these different mouse lines suggests a role for hypothalamic CRHR1 in the negative feedback control of the HPA axis.
Glucocorticoids (GCs) immunosuppression acts via regulation of several transcription factors (TF), including activating protein (AP)-1, NF-κB, and NFAT. GCs inhibit Th1 cytokines and promote a shift ...toward Th2 differentiation. Th1 phenotype depends on TF T-bet. In this study, we examined GC regulation of T-bet. We found that GCs inhibit T-bet transcriptional activity. We show that glucocorticoid receptor (GR) physically interacts with T-bet both in transfected cell lines and in primary splenocyte cultures with endogenous GR and T-bet. This interaction also blocks GR-dependent transcription. We show both in vitro and in vivo at endogenous binding sites that the mechanism underlying T-bet inhibition further involves reduction of T-bet binding to DNA. Using specific mutations of GR, we demonstrate that the first zinc finger region of GR is required for T-bet inhibition. GCs additionally inhibit T-bet both at mRNA and protein expression levels, revealing another layer of GR action on T-bet. Finally, we examined the functional consequences of GR/T-bet interaction on IFN-gamma, showing that GCs inhibit transcriptional activity of T-bet on its promoter. In view of the crucial role of T-bet in T cell differentiation and inflammation, we propose that GR inhibitory interaction with T-bet may be an important mechanism underlying the immunosuppressive properties of GCs.--Liberman, A. C., Refojo, D., Druker, J., Toscano, M., Rein, T., Holsboer, F., Arzt, E. The activated glucocorticoid receptor inhibits the transcription factor T-bet by direct protein-protein interaction.
Nur factors are critical for proopiomelanocortin (POMC) induction by CRH in corticotrophs, but the pathways linking CRH to Nur are unknown. In this study we show that in AtT-20 corticotrophs CRH and ...cAMP induce Nur77 and Nurr1 expression and transcription at the NurRE site by protein kinase A (PKA) and calcium-dependent and -independent mechanisms. Calcium pathways depend on calmodulin kinase II (CAMKII) activity, and calcium-independent pathways are accounted for in part by MAPK activation (Rap1/B-Raf/MAPK-ERK kinase/ERK1/2), demonstrated by the use of molecular and pharmacological tools. AtT-20 corticotrophs express B-Raf, as do other cells in which cAMP stimulates MAPK. CRH/cAMP stimulated ERK2 activity and increased transcriptional activity of a Gal4-Elk1 protein, which was blocked by overexpression of dominant negative mutants and kinase inhibitors and stimulated by expression of B-Raf. The MAPK kinase inhibitors did not affect Nur77 and Nurr1 mRNA induction but blocked CRH or cAMP-stimulated Nur transcriptional activity. Moreover, MAPK stimulated phosphorylation and transactivation of Nur77. The functional impact of these pathways was confirmed at the POMC promoter. In conclusion, in AtT-20 corticotrophs the CRH/cAMP signaling that leads to Nur77/Nurr1 mRNA induction and transcriptional activation, and thus POMC expression, is dependent on protein kinase A and involves calcium/calmodulin kinase II (Nur induction/activation) and MAPK calcium-dependent and -independent (Nur phosphorylation-activation) pathways.
Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) coordinates hormonal and behavioral responses to stress. The mitogen-activated protein kinase extracellular signal-related kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) mediates several ...functions in different forebrain structures and recently has been implicated in CRH signaling in cultured cells. To study in vivo CRH-mediated activation of central ERK1/2, we investigated the expression pattern of the phosphorylated ERK1/2 (p-ERK1/2) in the mouse brain after intracerebroventricular CRH injections. As shown by immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy analysis, CRH administration increased p-ERK1/2 levels specifically in the CA3 and CA1 hippocampal subfields and basolateral complex of the amygdala, both structures related to external environmental information processing and behavioral aspects of stress. Other regions such as hypothalamic nuclei and the central nucleus of the amygdala, also related to central CRH system but involved in the processing of the ascending visceral information and neuroendocrine-autonomic response to stress, did not show CRH-mediated ERK1/2 activation. To dissect the involvement of CRH receptor 1 (CRHR1) and CRHR2, we used conditional knockout mice in which Crhr1 is inactivated in the anterior forebrain and limbic structures. The conditional genetic ablation of Crhr1 inhibited the p-ERK1/2 increase, underlining the involvement of CRHR1 in the CRH-mediated activation. These findings underscore the fact that CRH activates p-ERK1/2 through CRHR1 only in selected brain regions, pointing to a specific role of this pathway in mediating behavioral adaptation to stress.
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