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1: Endocrinology. 1996 May;137(5):2167-70.Click here to read Links
Erratum in:
Endocrinology. 1996 Sep;137(9):3896.

Cloning and characterization of human urocortin.

Donaldson CJ, Sutton SW, Perrin MH, Corrigan AZ, Lewis KA, Rivier JE, Vaughan JM, Vale WW.

Clayton Foundation Laboratories for Peptide Biology, Salk Institute, La Jolla 92037, USA.

Urocortin, a new member of the CRF peptide family which also includes urotensin I and sauvagine, was recently cloned from the rat midbrain. The synthetic replicate of urocortin was found to bind with high affinity to type 1 and type 2 CRF receptors and, based upon its anatomic localization within the brain, was proposed to be a natural ligand for the type 2 CRF receptors. Using a genomic library, we have cloned the human counterpart of rat urocortin and localized it to human chromosome 2. Human and rat urocortin share 95% identity within the mature peptide region. Synthetic human urocortin binds with high affinity to CRF receptor types 1, 2 alpha, and 2 beta, stimulates cAMP accumulation from cells stably transfected with these receptors, and acts in vitro to release ACTH from dispersed rat anterior pituitary cells. In addition, the CRF-binding protein binds human urocortin with high affinity and can prevent urocortin-stimulated ACTH secretion in vitro. The inhibitory effect of the CRF-binding protein on human urocortin can be blocked by biologically inactive CRF fragments, such as CRF(9-33).

PMID: 8612563 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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