FACULTY

Wylie Vale, the Helen McLoraine professor of molecular neurobiology and professor and head of the Clayton Foundation Laboratories for Peptide Biology, is an authority on brain hormones, in particular, small proteins called peptides. Over the past two decades, he and his group have discovered more than a dozen novel peptide hormones/growth factors including corticotropin releasing factor (CRF), a key chemical in the body’s response to stress.

Vale’s group has identified the receptor through which CRF communicates with cells in the pituitary, brain and elsewhere. This receptor has become an important target for the pharmaceutical industry, and drugs that block CRF are now in clinical trials. Early results suggest this work may lead to a new generation of antidepressant and anti-anxiety drugs. The discovery of a second CRF receptor led to the discovery of a novel hormone, urocortin, in addition to a urocortin-related hormone that is highly specific for the second CRF receptor. This new hormone has powerful effects on the brain, cardiovascular system and gastrointestinal tract.

Vale and his colleagues also have identified several new ovarian and testicular hormones that have opposing roles in regulating the reproductive system.

These hormones, activin and inhibin, were later found to have effects on the development and growth of normal and cancerous cells, and to regulate functions such as red blood cell production and bone growth. This work led to the identity of a key component of the inhibin receptor.