Corticotropin Releasing Factor (CRF)

releasing factor was initially isolated from ovine hypothalamus by Vale et al., in 1981, and identified as a novel neuropeptide comprising 41 amino acid residues with molecular weight 4758. Later human CRF and rat CRF were also isolated and identified. The mouse CRF peptide is identical at amino acid level to the rat and human CRF peptides. CRF in anterior pituitary promotes the synthesis and secretion of ACTH, a main factor of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. In the rat and human, CRF distributes mainly in hypothalamus, but it was also found in spinal cord, stomach, spleen, duodenum, adrenal and placenta. In addition, immunochemical evidence supported the wide distribution of the peptide throughout the central nervous system (CNS) such as olfactory bulb, retina and central auditory system in the rat.