Local Corticotropin Releasing Hormone (CRH) Signals To Its Receptor CRHR1 During Postnatal Development of the Mouse Olfactory Bulb

Authors

Isabella Garcia, Program in Developmental Biology, Baylor College of Medicine
Paramjit K Bhullar, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine
Burak Tepe, Program in Developmental Biology, Baylor College of Medicine
Joshua Ortiz-Guzman, Program in Developmental Biology, Baylor College of Medicine
Longwen Huang, Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine
Alexander M Herman, Program in Developmental Biology, Baylor College of Medicine
Lesley Chaboub, Program in Developmental Biology, Baylor College of Medicine
Benjamin Deneen, Baylor College of Medicine and The Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital
Nicholas J Justice, Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Benjamin R Arenkiel, Program in Developmental Biology, Dept. of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine

Publication Date

1-1-2016

Journal

Brain Structure and Function

DOI

10.1007/s00429-014-0888-4

PMID

25224546

PMCID

PMC4362939

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

1-1-2017

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Author MSS

Published Open-Access

no

Keywords

Animals, Corticotropin-releasing hormone, CRH, Discrimination (Psychology), Excitatory postsynaptic potentials, Female, Interneurons, Short-term memory, Mouse, Knockout mice, Odorants, Olfaction, Olfactory bulb, Olfactory perception, Receptors

Abstract

Neuropeptides play important physiological functions during distinct behaviors such as arousal, learning, memory, and reproduction. However, the role of local, extrahypothalamic neuropeptide signaling in shaping synapse formation and neuronal plasticity in the brain is not well understood. Here, we characterize the spatiotemporal expression profile of the neuropeptide corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and its receptor CRHR1 in the mouse OB throughout development. We found that CRH-expressing interneurons are present in the external plexiform layer, that its cognate receptor is expressed by granule cells, and show that both CRH and CRHR1 expression enriches in the postnatal period when olfaction becomes important towards olfactory-related behaviors. Further, we provide electrophysiological evidence that CRHR1-expressing granule cells functionally respond to CRH ligand, and that the physiological circuitry of CRHR1 knockout mice is abnormal, leading to impaired olfactory behaviors. Together, these data suggest a physiologically relevant role for local CRH signaling towards shaping the neuronal circuitry within the mouse OB.