Lessons from CRH knockout mice.

Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), the major regulator of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, has a wide spectrum of actions within the central nervous system and the periphery. The development and use of Crh knockout mice (Crh-/-) has been an important tool for addressing the physiologic and pathologic roles of CRH. This review describes the generation and characterization ofCrh -deficient mice as well as the use of these mice to study the role of CRH in maternal and fetal HPA axes development and in the regulation of the adult HPA axis and behavior. The review concludes with information about recently discovered CRH-related peptides and their possible roles in some of the functions thought initially to be mediated by CRH.