title: The cardiac renin-angiotensin system: conceptual, or a regulator of cardiac function?
abstract: Angiotensin II, the effector peptide of the renin-angiotensin system, regulates cellular growth in response to developmental, physiological, and pathological processes. The identification of renin-angiotensin system components and angiotensin II receptors in cardiac tissue suggests the existence of an autocrine/paracrine system that has effects independent of angiotensin II derived from the circulatory system. To be functional, a local renin-angiotensin system should produce sufficient amounts of the autocrine and/or paracrine factor to elicit biological responses, contain the final effector (angiotensin II receptor), and respond to humoral, neural, and/or mechanical stimuli. In this review, we discuss evidence for a functional cardiac renin-angiotensin system.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Institute, Division of Molecular Cardiology, The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, Temple, TX 76504, USA. ddostal@medicine.tamu.edu
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Dostal
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Baker
mesh_terms: D000804:Angiotensin II / Q000096:biosynthesis; D000808:Angiotensinogen / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified / Q000502:physiology; D002303:Cardiac Output, Low / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009206:Myocardium / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A / Q000378:metabolism; D012083:Renin / Q000378:metabolism; D012084:Renin-Angiotensin System / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000808:Angiotensinogen; D000804:Angiotensin II; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A; D012083:Renin