Expression of the Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone (CRH) Gene in Human Placenta and Amniotic Membrane

Abstract

Immunoreactive corticotropin-releasing hormone (IR-CRH) in maternal plasma increases progressively during pregnancy and decreases rapidly after delivery, suggesting that IR-CRH is produced in the placenta. We studied the expression of the CRH gene in developing human chorionic tissue, the amniotic membrane, the uterine myometrium and a fresh surgical specimen of hydatidiform mole by Northern blot analysis. Our results were as follows: (1) CRH mRNA was demonstrated in the placenta in the third trimester and at term, but under detectable level in the first and second trimesters. (2) CRH mRNA expression was observed in the amniotic membrane, but its expression in the myometrium in normal pregnancy was under detectable level at term. (3) CRH mRNA was also under detectable level in trophoblasts of a hydatidiform mole. These results suggest that the sources of the increased level of IR-CRH in human plasma and amniotic fluid during pregnancy are the placenta and amniotic membrane, and that gene expression of placental CRH increases during pregnancy.

Cortical Thinning and Neuropsychiatric Outcomes in Children Exposed to Prenatal Adversity: A Role for Placental CRH?

“…CRH of brain origin is not detectable in the circulation (23). However, during human pregnancy, the CRH gene, located on the long arm of chromosome 8 (24), is expressed in the human placenta and amniotic membrane (25,26). Placental CRH (pCRH) is released into the maternal and fetal compartments as early as the eighth week of gestation and increases exponentially across gestation to regulate fetal maturation (27), metabolic functions (28,29) and the timing of birth (30).…”

Different effects of corticotropin-releasing factor and urocortin 2 on apoptosis of prostate cancer cells in vitro

“…Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and Urocortin (Ucn) have been found to be over-expressed in human reproductive tumors such as ovarian cancer (Suda et al 1986), endometrial adenocarcinoma (Miceli et al 2009), and hydatidiform mole (Okamoto et al 1990). However, the special effects of CRF family peptides on cellular apoptosis in reproductive tumors are controversial at present.…”

Maternal corticotropin-releasing hormone and habituation in the human fetus

“…Recent findings (McLean et al, 1995;Wadhwa, Porto, Garite, Chicz-DeMet, & Sandman, 1998) indicate that elevated concentrations or a precocious rise in CRH during the 2nd or early 3rd trimester of human pregnancy are associated with spontaneous preterm delivery (PTD) independently of medical (obstetric) risk. In humans, the CRH gene is expressed in the placenta and amniotic membranes by the 7th week of gestation (Grino, Burgunder, Eskay, & Eiden, 1989;Okamoto, et al, 1990). Levels of hCRHmRNA increase more than 20-fold in the weeks preceding delivery , resulting in an exponential rise in maternal CRH plasma concentrations during the second half of pregnancy that peak at delivery and return to very low or undetectable levels within 24 hr after delivery (Challis, Matthews, Van Meir, & Ramirez, 1995;Petraglia, Florio, Nappi, & Genazzani, 1996).…”