Urocortin-deficient mice show hearing impairment and increased anxiety-like behavior.

Douglas E. Vetter, Chien Li, Lingyun Zhao, Angelo Contarino, M. Charles Liberman, George W. Smith, Yelena Marchuk, George F. Koob, Stephen F. Heinemann, Wylie Vale, Kuo-Fen Lee
Nat Genet. 2002-07-01; 31(4): 363-369
DOI: 10.1038/ng914

PubMed
Lire sur PubMed



1. Nat Genet. 2002 Aug;31(4):363-9. Epub 2002 Jul 1.

Urocortin-deficient mice show hearing impairment and increased anxiety-like
behavior.

Vetter DE(1), Li C, Zhao L, Contarino A, Liberman MC, Smith GW, Marchuk Y, Koob
GF, Heinemann SF, Vale W, Lee KF.

Author information:
(1)The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.

Urocortin is a member of the corticotropin-releasing hormone peptide family and
is found in many discrete brain regions. The distinct expression pattern of
urocortin suggests that it influences such behaviors as feeding, anxiety and
auditory processing. To better define the physiological roles of urocortin, we
have generated mice carrying a null mutation of the urocortin gene.
Urocortin-deficient mice have normal basal feeding behavior and stress responses,
but show heightened anxiety-like behaviors in the elevated plus maze and
open-field tests. In addition, hearing is impaired in the mutant mice at the
level of the inner ear, suggesting that urocortin is involved in the normal
development of cochlear sensory-cell function. These results provide the first
example of a function for any peptidergic system in hearing.

DOI: 10.1038/ng914
PMID: 12091910 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

Auteurs Bordeaux Neurocampus