In the 1970s, a series of observations demonstrated that angiotensin II has deleterious effects on the heart and kidney and that patients with high levels of plasma renin activity are at a higher risk of developing stroke or myocardial infarction than those with low plasma renin activity.1,2 Thereafter, the development of pharmacological probes that block the renin-angiotensin system helped def...

OBJECTIVE Angiotensin II (Ang II) infusion causes aortic medial thickening via stimulation of angiotensin II type 1a (AT1a) receptors. The purpose of this study was to determine the cellular loci of AT1a receptors that mediate this Ang II-induced aortic pathology. APPROACH AND RESULTS Saline or Ang II was infused into AT1a receptor floxed mice expressing Cre under control of cell-specific pro...

Angiotensin II (Ang II) regulates water and sodium transport in renal tubules and gastrointestinal tract. Two types of Ang II receptors have been cloned, but their distributions have not been determined in human colon. In addition, tissue renin-angiotensin systems (RAS) are believed to exist and to regulate local actions in human colon. We studied by reverse transcription-polymerase chain react...

Angiotensin II (Ang II) is both a vasoactive and a potent growth-promoting factor for vascular smooth muscle cells. Little is known about the in vivo contribution of AT1 and AT2 receptor activation to the biological action of Ang II. Therefore, we investigated the effect of AT1 or AT2 subtype receptor chronic blockade by losartan or PD123319 on the vascular hypertrophy in rats with Ang II-induc...

Neurons from mouse models of Huntington's disease (HD) exhibit altered electrophysiological properties, potentially contributing to neuronal dysfunction and neurodegeneration. The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is a potential contributor to the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases. However, the role of angiotensin II (Ang II) and angiotensin (1-7) has not been characterized in HD. We i...

We investigated the binding characteristics of angiotensin receptors and used this assay to determine the predominant enzyme capable of converting angiotensin I in the human left ventricle. In homogenates of human left ventricle, (125)I-[Sar(1),Ile(8)]angiotensin II bound with sub-nanomolar affinity, with a corresponding K(D) of 0.42+/-0.09 nM, a B(max) of 11.2+/-2.3 fmol.mg(-1) protein and a H...

IN 1988, YANAGISAWA AND COWORKERS (55) characterized an endothelium-derived vasoconstrictor, a 21-amino acid peptide subsequently called endothelin (ET). ET-1 is derived from a 203-amino acid peptide precursor, preproendothelin, which is cleaved after translation to form proendothelin. In the presence of a converting enzyme located within the endothelial cells, proendothelin, or big ET, is clea...

Enhanced renal expression for the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is detected in IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Previous data showed an altered glomerular expression of angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R), suggesting a regulatory response to high intrarenal angiotensin II (Ang II) concentration in IgAN. In this study, the expression and regulation of Ang II receptors were examined in human proximal t...

Responses to the synthetic substrate [Pro11,d-Ala12]angiotensin I were investigated in the hindlimb vascular bed of the cat, a system in which local angiotensin-converting enzyme activity is high. Under constant-flow conditions, injections of [Pro11,d-Ala12]angiotensin I into the perfusion circuit in doses of 1-300 μg caused dose-related increases in perfusion pressure that were rapid in onset ...

High affinity binding sites for angiotensin II in bovine and rat brain membranes have been identified and characterized using monoiodinated Ile5-angiotensin II of high specific radioactivity. Degradation of labeled and unlabeled peptide by washed brain particulate fractions was prevented by adding glucagon to the final incubation medium and including a proteolytic enzyme inhibitor (phenylmethyl...