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Letter

Nature Genetics 24, 410–414 (1 April 2000) | doi:10.1038/74263

Mice deficient for corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor-2 display anxiety-like behaviour and are hypersensitive to stress

Tracy L. Bale , Angelo Contarino , George W. Smith , Raymond Chan , Lisa H. Gold , Paul E. Sawchenko , George F. Koob , Wylie W. Vale & Kuo-Fen Lee

Corticotropin-releasing hormone (Crh) is a critical coordinator of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. In response to stress, Crh released from the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus activates Crh receptors on anterior pituitary corticotropes, resulting in release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (Acth) into the bloodstream.