Comparison of CRF-immunoreactive neurons distribution in mouse and rat brains and selective induction of Fos in rat hypothalamic CRF neurons by abdominal surgery

Abstract

Mice and rats are widely used in stress-related behavioral studies while little is known about the distribution of the stress hormone, corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in the mouse brain. We developed and characterized a novel rat/mouse CRF polyclonal antibody (CURE ab 200101) that was used to detect and compare the brain distributions of CRF immunoreactivity in naïve and colchicine-treated rats and mice. We also assessed whether the visceral stressor of abdominal surgery activated brain CRF neurons using double labeling of Fos/CRF in naïve rats. CRF-ir neurons were visualized in the cortex, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, central amygdala, hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN), Barrington’s nucleus and dorsolateral tegmental area in naïve rats. CRF-immunoreactive (ir) neurons in the mouse brain were detected only after colchicine. The pattern shows fundamental similarity compared to the colchicine-treated rat brain, however, there were differences with a lesser distribution in both areas and density except in the lateral septum and external subnucleus of the lateral parabrachial nucleus which contained more CRF-ir neurons in mice, and CRF-ir neurons in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus were found only in mice. Abdominal surgery in naïve rats induced Fos-ir in 30% of total CRF-ir neurons in the PVN compared with control (anesthesia alone) while Fos was not co-localized with CRF in other brain nuclei. These data indicate that CRF-ir distribution in the brain displays similarity as well as distinct features in mice compared to rats that may underlie some differential stress responses. Abdominal surgery activates CRF-ir neurons selectively in the PVN of rats without colchicine treatment.

Distribution of corticotropin-releasing factor in the tree shrew brain

“…However, the CA fields contain no CRF-ir cells in the tree shrew brain. The different effects of colchicine on CRF-ir cells and fibers in different regions of tree shrews are similar to previous reports (Merchenthaler, 1984;Wang et al, 2011). For example the BST, the distribution of CRF-ir cell bodies is much enhanced with colchicine, but the fibers are hardly diminished.…”

“…In addition, there are different distribution patterns of positive neurons in the SCN of the tree shrew and rat brains (Sakanaka et al, 1987;Wang et al, 2011). Colchicine significantly inhibits the CRF fibers in the MEin projected from CRF neurons in the PVN.…”

“…The patterns of CRF-ir fibers are relatively similar between mammalian species while of CRF-ir cells may be different in several species. One previous study showed that CRF-ir neurons in colchicine-treated mouse and rat brains show distinct distribution and density (Wang et al, 2011). Previous studies have provided direct or indirect supports for a role of CRF system in the stress-related disorders (Heim et al, 1997;Lemos et al, 2012), alcohol dependence (Le et al, 2002), reward (Wanat et al, 2013), correlated memory (Chen et al, 2010), and feeding behavior (Stengel et al, 2009).…”

Transcriptomic and Epigenetic Changes in the Hypothalamus Are Involved in an Increased Susceptibility to a High-Fat-Sucrose Diet in Prenatally Stressed Female Rats

“…Lee et al [27] observed an upregulation of the Slc6a3 gene due to a high-fat diet intake, a finding that runs counter to our results. In this respect, there are several studies [28,29,30], which have detected differences in the expression levels of certain genes in the brain when comparing rats and mice, indicating that there could be species-specific changes. Moreover, Vucetic et al [31] described a downregulation of Slc6a3 in the hypothalamus in offspring of dams fed a high-fat diet during pregnancy and lactation.…”

Role of Corticotropin-releasing Factor Signaling in Stress-related Alterations of Colonic Motility and Hyperalgesia

“…32,[66][67][68][69] In particular, major sites of CRF mRNA and CRF immunoreactivity are located in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus, cerebral cortex, amygdalar-hippocampal complex and pontine Barrington's nucleus in rodents and humans. 67,68 With regards to the brain distribution of CRF receptors, dense CRF 1 receptor expression is found in the forebrain, subcortical limbic structures (more prominently in the septal region) and amygdala, whereas the expression in the hypothalamus is low under basal conditions but markedly up-regulated by stress. 32,70,71 Moreover, CRF 1 receptors at the gene and protein levels are prominently expressed in the anterior and intermediate lobe of the pituitary.…”