Regulation Of Glutamate-Evoked Currents By Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone In Rat Hippocampal Neurons

Glutamate, a major excitatory neurotransmitter in hippocampus, initiates a cascade of biochemical events that have important and complicated effects on hippcampus through its receptors. CRH has been shown to be involved in some physiological and pathological processes in hippocampus induced by glutamate. In order to understand the regulation of function in hippocampus, we studied the regulation of I_glu by CRH in cultured hippocampal neurons. Our results showed that CRH has an inhibitory effect on I_glu in cultured hippocampal neurons in a dose-dependent manner. This effect is mediated by CRH receptor and PKA- and PKC-dependent signalling pathways. CRH also has an inhibitory effect on I_nmda.