Abstract
Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) peptides and their receptors have crucial roles in behavioral and endocrine responses to stress. Dysregulation of CRF signaling has been linked to post-traumatic stress disorder, which is associated with increased startle reactivity in response to threat. Thus, understanding the mechanisms underlying CRF regulation of startle may identify pathways involved in this disorder. Here, we tested the hypothesis that both CRF1 and CRF2 receptors contribute to fear-induced increases in startle. Startle responses of wild type (WT) and mice with null mutations (knockout, KO) for CRF1 or CRF2 receptor genes were measured immediately after footshock (shock sensitization) or in the presence of cues previously associated with footshock (ie fear-potentiated startle, FPS). WT mice exhibited robust increases in startle immediately after footshock, which was dependent upon contextual cues. This effect was completely absent in CRF1 KO mice, and significantly attenuated in CRF2 KO mice. In contrast, CRF1 and CRF2 KO mice exhibited normal potentiation of startle by discrete conditioned cues. Blockade of both receptors via CRF1 receptor antagonist treatment in CRF2 KO mice also had no effect on FPS. These results support an additive model of CRF1 and CRF2 receptor activation effects on potentiated startle. These data also indicate that both CRF receptor subtypes contribute to contextual fear but are not required for discrete cued fear effects on startle reactivity. Thus, we suggest that either CRF1 or CRF2 could contribute to the increased startle observed in anxiety disorders with CRF system abnormalities.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Dr Susan Powell for her helpful comments, Christine Scott and Chelsea Wallace for their technical assistance, and Dr Dimitri Grigoriadis of Neurocrine Biosciences for the gift of NBI-30775. This work was supported by NIH grant MH074697; the San Diego Veteran's Administration Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health (CESAMH), and via a Merit Review grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs. These data were previously presented at the 2007 Biological Psychiatry meeting in San Diego, CA.
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Drs Hauger, Coste, Stenzel-Poore, Wurst and Holsboer have no potential financial conflicts to report. Over the past 3 years, Dr Geyer has received compensation from Acadia, Addex, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Jazz, Omeros, Organon and Wyeth-Ayerst and holds an equity interest in San Diego Instruments. Over the past 3 years Dr Risbrough has received compensation as a consultant from Arena Pharmaceuticals and San Diego Instruments.
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Risbrough, V., Geyer, M., Hauger, R. et al. CRF1 and CRF2 Receptors are Required for Potentiated Startle to Contextual but not Discrete Cues. Neuropsychopharmacol 34, 1494–1503 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2008.205
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2008.205
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