In the present study, we evaluated the relative abundance of angiotensin type 2 receptor (AT2R) protein in various tissues of adult rats. We found that pancreatic islets expressed the highest AT2R protein compared with all other tissues. Accordingly, we then determined the functional significance of AT2R in the endocrine pancreas in in vivo and in vitro experiments by using angiotensin II (ANG ...

AT1R (angiotensin type 1 receptor) and AT2R (angiotensin type 2 receptor) are well known to be involved in the complex cardiovascular actions of AngII (angiotensin II). However, shorter peptide fragments of AngII are thought to have biological activity in their own right and elicit effects that oppose those mediated by AngII. In the present study, we have used HEK (human embryonic kidney)-293 c...

In the current experiment, we determined angiotensin type 2 receptor (AT2R) and angiotensin type 1 receptor (AT1R) protein expression by western blot analysis in developing normal mice. The results indicate that: (1) in all detected brain regions and in the spinal cord, adult mice exhibited significantly higher AT2R expression and lower AT1R expression in total protein extracts compared to fetu...

This study was aimed at establishing whether specific activation of angiotensin II (ANG II) type 2 receptor (AT2R) modulates adipocyte differentiation and function. In primary cultures of subcutaneous (SC) and retroperitoneal (RET) preadipocytes, both AT2R and AT1R were expressed at the mRNA and protein level. Cells were stimulated with ANG II or the AT2R agonist C21/M24, alone or in the presen...

Accumulating evidence suggests that the protective pathways of the renin-angiotensin system are enhanced in women, including the angiotensin type 2 receptor (AT2R), which mediates vasodilatory and natriuretic effects. To provide insight into the sex-specific ability of pharmacological AT2R stimulation to modulate renal function in hypertension, we examined the influence of the AT2R agonist, com...

BACKGROUND The therapeutic efficiency of bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNCs) autologous transplantation for myocardial infarction (MI) remains low. Here we developed a novel strategy to improve cardiac repair by preconditioning BMMNCs via angiotensin II type 2 receptor (AT2R) stimulation. METHODS AND RESULTS Acute MI in rats led to a significant increase of AT2R expression in BMMNCs. Preco...

OBJECTIVE To identify vascular cells capable of responding to angiotensin II (Ang II) generated in conduit arteries, we examined the Ang II type 1 receptor (AT1R) and Ang II type 2 receptor (AT2R) in the thoracic aorta (TA) and abdominal aorta (AA) and branches in 90-day fetal, 3-week postnatal, and 6-month adult microswine. METHODS AND RESULTS By autoradiography ((125)I-[Sar(1)Ile(8)]-Ang II...

The renin-angiotensin system with its active metabolite angiotensin (Ang) II has been related not only to hypertension but also to obesity and insulin resistance. Recent evidence obtained in vitro suggests that the type 2 Ang II receptor (AT2R) mediates the trophic action of Ang II on adipocyte differentiation and lipogenesis. We used AT2R(y/-) mice to delineate a potential role of AT2R in adip...

BACKGROUND The X-linked angiotensin II type-2 receptor (AT2R) gene 1675G/A polymorphism is located in the short intron 1 of the AT2R gene within a sequence motif conforming to a splice branch site. AT2R is expressed in the human retina, but no previous study examined the association between retinal microvascular phenotypes and the AT2R 1675G/A polymorphism. METHODS In 340 subjects randomly se...

GPCR subtypes possess distinct functional and pharmacological profiles, and thus development of subtype-selective ligands has immense therapeutic potential. This is especially the case for the angiotensin receptor subtypes AT1R and AT2R, where a functional negative control has been described and AT2R activation highlighted as an important cancer drug target. We describe a strategy to fine-tune ...