Co-localization of corticotropin-releasing hormone with glutamate decarboxylase and calcium-binding proteins in infant rat neocortical interneurons

Corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) has been localized to interneurons of the mammalian cerebral cortex, but these neurons have not been fully characterized. The present study determined the extent of colocalization of CRH with glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) and calcium-binding proteins in the infant rat neocortex using immunocytochemistry. CRH-immunoreactive (ir) neurons were classified into two major groups. The first group was larger and consisted of densely CRH-immunostained small bipolar cells, predominantly localized to layers II and III. The second group of CRH-ir cells was lightly labeled and included multipolar neurons mainly found in deep cortical layers. Co-localization studies indicated that the vast majority of CRH-ir neurons, including both bipolar and multipolar types, was co-immunolabeled for GAD-65 and GAD-67. Most multipolar, but only some bipolar, CRH-ir neurons also contained parvalbumin, while CRH-ir neurons rarely contained calbindin or calretinin. These results indicate that virtually all CRH-ir neurons in the rat cerebral cortex are GABAergic. Furthermore, since parvalbumin is expressed by cortical basket and chandelier cells, the colocalization of CRH and parvalbumin suggests that some cortical CRH-ir neurons may belong to these two cell types.