A secretagogin locus of the mammalian hypothalamus controls stress hormone release

The molecular mechanism regulating phasic corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) release from parvocellular neurons (PVN) remains poorly understood. Here, we find a cohort of parvocellular cells interspersed with magnocellular PVN neurons expressing secretagogin. Single-cell transcriptome analysis combined with protein interactome profiling identifies secretagogin neurons as a distinct CRH-releasing neuron population reliant on secretagogin’s Ca2+ sensor properties and protein interactions with the vesicular traffic and exocytosis release machineries to liberate this key hypothalamic releasing hormone.