title: Tissue kallikrein-kinin therapy in hypertension and organ damage.
abstract: Tissue kallikrein is a serine proteinase that cleaves low molecular weight kininogen to produce kinin peptides, which in turn activate kinin receptors to trigger multiple biological functions. In addition to its kinin-releasing activity, tissue kallikrein directly interacts with the kinin B2 receptor, protease-activated receptor-1, and gamma-epithelial Na channel. The tissue kallikrein-kinin system (KKS) elicits a wide spectrum of biological activities, including reducing hypertension, cardiac and renal damage, restenosis, ischemic stroke, and skin wound injury. Both loss-of-function and gain-of-function studies have shown that the KKS plays an important endogenous role in the protection against health pathologies. Tissue kallikrein/kinin treatment attenuates cardiovascular, renal, and brain injury by inhibiting oxidative stress, apoptosis, inflammation, hypertrophy, and fibrosis and promoting angiogenesis and neurogenesis. Approaches that augment tissue kallikrein-kinin activity might provide an effective strategy for the treatment of hypertension and associated organ damage.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.forename: Grant
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bledsoe
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000201:enzymology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000201:enzymology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000201:enzymology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D007705:Kinins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D020840:Tissue Kallikreins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D057772:Vascular System Injuries / Q000201:enzymology / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D007705:Kinins; D020840:Tissue Kallikreins