Takuwa Y, Yanagisawa M, Takuwa N, Masaki T
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Prog Growth Factor Res. 1989;1(4):195-206. doi: 10.1016/0955-2235(89)90011-2.
Endothelin, originally identified as a vasoconstrictive peptide derived from vascular endothelial cells, is now known to exert diverse biological effects on a wide variety of tissues and cell types through its own receptor(s). One of the outstanding actions of endothelin is a cell growth promoting activity which is demonstrated in several cell types including cultured vascular smooth muscle cells, fibroblasts, glomerular mesangial cells and osteoblasts. The mitogenic effect is likely mediated by stimulation of phospholipase C via receptor-G-protein coupling, and subsequent activation of protein kinase C. The effect of endothelin may contribute to the cell-proliferation response under various physiological and pathological conditions, such as wound healing and development of atherosclerosis and glomerulonephritis. Recently, three distinct endothelin-related genes have been cloned, suggesting that mammals, including humans, produce three members of this peptide family, endothelin (ET)-1 (the 'classical' endothelin), ET-2 and ET-3, which may act on distinct subtypes of endothelin receptor to induce different cellular responses.
内皮素最初被鉴定为一种源自血管内皮细胞的血管收缩肽，现在已知它通过自身的受体对多种组织和细胞类型发挥多种生物学作用。内皮素的突出作用之一是细胞生长促进活性，这在包括培养的血管平滑肌细胞、成纤维细胞、肾小球系膜细胞和成骨细胞在内的几种细胞类型中得到了证实。促有丝分裂作用可能是通过受体 - G蛋白偶联刺激磷脂酶C，随后激活蛋白激酶C介导的。内皮素的作用可能有助于在各种生理和病理条件下的细胞增殖反应，如伤口愈合、动脉粥样硬化和肾小球肾炎的发展。最近，已经克隆了三个不同的内皮素相关基因，这表明包括人类在内的哺乳动物产生了这个肽家族的三个成员，即内皮素（ET）-1（“经典”内皮素）、ET-2和ET-3，它们可能作用于内皮素受体的不同亚型以诱导不同的细胞反应。
