Thyrotropin-releasing hormone and its receptor in glia

The presence of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (Thyroliberin, TRH) and its r eceptor (TRH-R) in frozen coronal sections of the adult rat spinal cord and neonatal rat astroglial cultures was investigated by means of immunocytoch emistry and Western blot using polyclonal antibodies generated against the hormone and monoclonal antibodies originated against discrete sequences of the type 1 rat TRH receptor (TRH-R1). TRH-R1 and TRH are present both in as troglial cells from adult rats and in cultured cells from newborn animals. The localization of TRH and TRH-RI in nonneuronal cells in the central nerv ous system may reflect that some of the neurotrophic actions of TRH upon th e central nervous system are mediated by glial cells. GLIA 33:267-276, 2001 . (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.