Im Eunok
College of Pharmacy, Pusan National University, Busan, Korea.
J Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2015 Jan 1;21(1):25-32. doi: 10.5056/jnm14076.
The family of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) composed of 4 ligands including CRF, urocortin (Ucn) 1, Ucn2, and Ucn3 is expressed both in the central nervous system and the periphery including the gastrointestinal tract. Two different forms of G protein coupled receptors, CRF1 and CRF2, differentially recognize CRF family members, mediating various biological functions. A large body of evidence suggests that the CRF family plays an important role in regulating inflammation and angiogenesis. Of particular interest is a contrasting role of the CRF family during inflammatory processes. The CRF family can exert both proand anti-inflammatory functions depending on the type of receptors, the tissues, and the disease phases. In addition, there has been a growing interest in a possible role of the CRF family in angiogenesis. Regulation of angiogenesis by the CRF family has been shown to modulate endogenous blood vessel formation, inflammatory neovascularization and cardiovascular function. This review outlines the effect of the CRF family and its receptors on 2 major biological events: inflammation and angiogenesis, and provides a possibility of their application for the treatment of inflammatory vascular diseases.
促肾上腺皮质激素释放因子（CRF）家族由4种配体组成，包括CRF、尿皮质素（Ucn）1、Ucn2和Ucn3，在中枢神经系统和包括胃肠道在内的外周组织中均有表达。两种不同形式的G蛋白偶联受体CRF1和CRF2，对CRF家族成员有不同的识别能力，介导多种生物学功能。大量证据表明，CRF家族在调节炎症和血管生成中起重要作用。特别值得关注的是CRF家族在炎症过程中的相反作用。根据受体类型、组织和疾病阶段，CRF家族既能发挥促炎作用，也能发挥抗炎作用。此外，人们越来越关注CRF家族在血管生成中可能发挥的作用。已证明CRF家族对血管生成的调节可调控内源性血管形成、炎症性新血管形成和心血管功能。本综述概述了CRF家族及其受体对炎症和血管生成这两个主要生物学事件的影响，并为其在炎症性血管疾病治疗中的应用提供了可能性。
