Endocrine Abstracts

Wylie Vale, Clayton Foundation Laboratories for Peptide Biology, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, San Diego, California, USA Abstract Wylie Vale is the Helen McLoraine Professor of Molecular Neurobiology and Head of the Clayton Foundation Laboratories for Peptide Biology at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, where he is currently Chair of the Faculty. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the Un...

Urocortin 3 is a CRF-related ligand highly specific for the Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Receptor Type 2 (CRFR2). CRFR2 is implicated in the regulation of stress-related behaviours and the neuroendocrine response to stressors. Close anatomical association between major Urocortin 3 terminal fields and CRFR2 in the limbic system and hypothalamus indicate this system is well placed to be involved in modulating of the physiological stress response. Transgenic mice ubiquitously o...

The CRF-related ligand Urocortin 3 (Ucn 3) is expressed in discrete subcortical areas with highest mRNA levels in the medial amgydala (MEA), hypothalamic median preoptic nucleus (MePO) and the rostral part of the perifornical hypothalamic area (PFN). Close anatomical association between major Ucn 3 terminal fields and the type 2-CRF receptor in hypothalamus, lateral septum and medial amygdala suggest it is well placed to modulate physiological processes including behavioural, ...

Urocortins are the endogenous ligands for the corticotropin-releasing factor receptor type-2 which is highly expressed in skeletal muscle where it regulates glucose metabolism and muscle mass. Transgenic mice overexpressing Urocortin-3 (UCN3+) show accelerated peripheral glucose disposal and increased skeletal muscle mass with myocyte hypertrophy associated with decreased energy efficiency and improved glucose tolerance. We aimed to determine whether this phenotype would confe...

CRF mediates numerous complementary stress-related endocrine (HPA), autonomic and behavioral responses. CRF antagonists block many stress-induced responses in experimental animals. Furthermore, perturbations of the CRF system or HPA have been reported in human affective disorders. CRF acts through two Class B G protein coupled receptors derived from two genes, which have alternative splice variants and distinct expression patterns. Mice null for CRF-R1 exhibit reduced basal an...

Skeletal muscle is the principal tissue responsible for insulin-stimulated glucose disposal and is thus the major site of peripheral insulin resistance. Urocortin 2 (Ucn2), a corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) family member and the type 2 CRF receptor (CRFR2) are highly expressed in skeletal muscle. To determine the physiological role of Ucn2, we generated mice deficient in this peptide. Using glucose and insulin tolerance tests and hyperinsulinemic euglycemic glucose clamp ...