Member database | PRINTS |
PRINTS type | family |
Short name | CRFFAMILY |
Description Imported from IPR003620
Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), urotensin-I, urocortin and sauvagine form a family of related neuropeptides in vertebrates. The family can be grouped into 2 separate paralogous lineages, with urotensin-I, urocortin and sauvagine in one group and CRF forming the other group. Urocortin and sauvagine appear to represent orthologues of fish urotensin-I in mammals and amphibians, respectively. The peptides have a variety of physiological effects on stress and anxiety, vasoregulation, thermoregulation, growth and metabolism, metamorphosis and reproduction in various species, and are all released as preprohormones
[2].
CRF
[1] is a hormone found mainly in the paraventricular nucleus of the mammalian hypothalamus that regulates the release of corticotropin (ACTH) from the pituitary gland. From here, CRF is transported to the anterior pituitary, stimulating adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) release via CRF type 1 receptors, thereby activating the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis (HPA) and thus glucocorticoid release.
CRF is evolutionary related to a number of other active peptides. Urocortin acts in vitro to stimulate the secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone. Urotensin is found in the teleost caudal neurosecretory system and may play a role in osmoregulation and as a corticotropin-releasing factor. Urotensin-I is released from the urophysis of fish, and produces ACTH and subsequent cortisol release in vivo. The nonhormonal portion of the prohormone is thought to be the urotensin binding protein (urophysin). Sauvagine is an active peptide from the skin of Phyllomedusa sauvagei, a frog from Central and South America, which possesses a number of pharmacological actions on diuresis, the cardiovascular system and endocrine glands
[3].
References Imported from IPR003620
1.Evolutionary aspects of corticotropin releasing hormones. Lederis KP, Okawara Y, Richter D, Morley SD. Prog. Clin. Biol. Res. 342, 467-72, (1990). PMID: 2200028
2.Evolution and physiology of the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) family of neuropeptides in vertebrates. Lovejoy DA, Balment RJ. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 115, 1-22, (1999). View articlePMID: 10375459
3.Amino acid composition and sequence analysis of sauvagine, a new active peptide from the skin of Phyllomedusa sauvagei. Montecucchi PC, Henschen A. Int J Pept Protein Res 18, 113-20, (1981). View articlePMID: 7309372
Supplementary References
1. The role of CRH in behavioral responses to stress. Smagin GN, Heinrichs SC, Dunn AJ. Peptides 22, 713-24, (2001). View articlePMID: 11337084