title: Human urotensin-II as a novel cardiovascular target: 'heart' of the matter or simply a fishy 'tail'?
abstract: Urotensin-II (U-II), originally identified as a fish neuropeptide, exerts a broad spectrum of biological actions in mammals: responses that influence cardiorenal, pulmonary (bronchoconstriction), central nervous system (locomotion) and endocrine (thyroid-stimulating hormone, prolactin and insulin secretion) function. Because the U-II isopeptide family is highly conserved across species, both amongst invertebrates and vertebrates, it has been inferred that U-II and its G-protein-coupled receptor, UT, play a seminal role in the physiological regulation of major mammalian organ systems, most notably within the cardiovasculature. However, despite the evolutionary conservation of U-II, the (patho)physiological significance of this 'somatostatin-like' peptide remains ambiguous. Can the identification of a fish peptide as a ligand for an 'orphan' mammalian G-protein-coupled receptor really tell us something about human physiology? Emerging preclinical and clinical data suggest that it might.
authors.affiliation: Vascular Biology (UW2510), Cardiovascular and Urogenital Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery, GlaxoSmithKline, PO Box 1539, 709 Swedeland Road, King of Prussia, PA 19406-0939, USA. steve_a_douglas@gsk.com
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Douglas
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002319:Cardiovascular System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D005399:Fishes; D006321:Heart / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D014579:Urotensins / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000819:agonists / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D014579:Urotensins; C029677:urotensin II