Henry Wellcome LINE, University of Bristol, Dorothy Hodgkin Building, Whitson Street, Bristol, BS1 3NY, UK.
Stress. 2011 Jan;14(1):98-115. doi: 10.3109/10253890.2010.512376. Epub 2010 Sep 9.
The distribution, pharmacology and function of the arginine vasopressin (Avp) 1b receptor subtype (Avpr1b) has proved more challenging to investigate compared to other members of the Avp receptor family. Avp is increasingly recognised as an important modulator of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, an action mediated by the Avpr1b present on anterior pituitary corticotrophs. The Avpr1b is also expressed in some peripheral tissues including pancreas and adrenal, and in the hippocampus (HIP), paraventricular nucleus and olfactory bulb of the rodent brain where its function is unknown. The central distribution of Avpr1bs is far more restricted than that of the Avpr1a, the main Avp receptor subtype found in the brain. Whether Avpr1b expression in rodent tissues is dependent on differences in the length of microsatellite dinucleotide repeats present in the 5' promoter region of the Avpr1b gene remains to be determined. One difficulty of functional studies on the Avpr1b, especially its involvement in the HPA axis response to stress, which prompted the generation of Avpr1b knockout (KO) mouse models, was the shortage of commercially available Avpr1b ligands, particularly antagonists. Research on mice lacking functional Avpr1bs has highlighted behavioural deficits in social memory and aggression. The Avpr1b KO also appears to be an excellent model to study the contribution of the Avpr1b in the HPA axis response to acute and perhaps some chronic (repeated) stressors where corticotrophin-releasing hormone and other genes involved in the HPA axis response to stress do not appear to compensate for the loss of the Avpr1b.
精氨酸加压素（Avp）1b 受体亚型（Avpr1b）的分布、药理学和功能比 Avp 受体家族的其他成员更难研究。Avp 被越来越多地认为是下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴的重要调节剂，这种作用是通过存在于垂体前叶促皮质素细胞上的 Avpr1b 介导的。Avpr1b 也在一些外周组织中表达，包括胰腺和肾上腺，以及在啮齿动物大脑的海马体（HIP）、室旁核和嗅球中表达，但其功能尚不清楚。Avpr1bs 的中枢分布比主要存在于大脑中的 Avpr1a 受体亚型更局限。Avpr1b 在啮齿动物组织中的表达是否依赖于 Avpr1b 基因 5'启动子区域中存在的微卫星二核苷酸重复序列长度的差异，还有待确定。Avpr1b 功能研究的一个困难，特别是其在 HPA 轴对应激的反应中的作用，促使产生了 Avpr1b 敲除（KO）小鼠模型，这是由于缺乏商业上可用的 Avpr1b 配体，特别是拮抗剂。缺乏功能性 Avpr1b 的研究表明，在社会记忆和攻击行为方面存在行为缺陷。Avpr1b KO 似乎也是研究 Avpr1b 在 HPA 轴对应激的急性和某些慢性（重复）应激反应中的作用的极好模型，因为促肾上腺皮质激素释放激素和其他参与 HPA 轴对应激反应的基因似乎不能弥补 Avpr1b 的缺失。
