Circulation Research. 1999;84:1067-1072
(Circulation Research. 1999;84:1067-1072.)
© 1999 American Heart Association, Inc.
In Vivo Enzymatic Assay Reveals Catalytic Activity of the Human Renin Precursor in Tissues
Danielle Methot,
David W. Silversides,
Timothy L. Reudelhuber
From the Laboratory of Molecular Biochemistry of Hypertension and Medical
Research Canada Multidisciplinary Research Group on Hypertension (D.M.,
T.L.R.), Clinical Research Institute of Montreal, Montreal, and Centre de
recherche en reproduction animal (D.W.S.), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,
University of Montreal, St-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada.
Correspondence to Timothy L. Reudelhuber, Laboratory of Molecular Biochemistry of Hypertension, Clinical Research Institute of Montreal, 110 Pine Ave West, Montreal, Quebec, H2W 1R7, Canada. E-mail reudelt{at}ircm.qc.ca
 |
Abstract
|
|---|
AbstractThe aspartyl
protease renin is secreted into the
circulation of mammals in 2 forms:
the proteolytically processed
active form of the enzyme and the
precursor form, prorenin.
Prorenin has no detectable enzymatic activity
in the circulation,
but it is the exclusive form of the enzyme produced
by several
tissues that also produce the other components of the renin
enzymatic
cascade (renin-angiotensin system). To test
whether prorenin
might be enzymatically active in these tissues,
transgenic mice
expressing the human renin substrate
(angiotensinogen) exclusively
in the pituitary gland were
mated to mice expressing either
active human renin or prorenin in the
same tissue. Measurement
of in vivo product formation in pituitary
glands of double-transgenic
mice revealed that human prorenin was
enzymatically active,
and Western blot analysis demonstrated
that this prorenin was
in the precursor form with its prosegment
attached. This in
vivo enzymatic assay demonstrates for the first time
that human
prorenin can be activated within tissues by
nonproteolytic means,
where it could contribute to the activity of a
localized renin-angiotensin
system.
Key Words: renin prorenin angiotensin
 |
Introduction
|
|---|
Many proteases are first synthesized as precursors
containing
a prosegment that serves not only as a folding catalyst or
scaffold
for the nascent protein, but also as an endogenous
inhibitor
to restrain the proteolytic activity of the
protein until it
has reached its target destination.
1
Likewise, the aspartyl
protease renin is synthesized as a proenzyme
precursor (prorenin),
and the renin present in the circulation is
derived by the proteolytic
removal of a 43-amino acid N-terminal
prosegment exclusively
in the kidney. Renin plays a key role in the
regulation of blood
pressure and in numerous
cardiovascular pathologies, such as
hypertension,
cardiac hypertrophy, and renal defects,
2 3
through
the cleavage of angiotensinogen into
angiotensin I (Ang I),
which is the rate-limiting step in
the renin-angiotensin system
(RAS; Figure 1A

).

View larger version (16K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
|
Figure 1. A, Schematic representation of the RAS.
AOGEN indicates angiotensinogen; ANG I,
angiotensin; and ACE, angiotensin-converting
enzyme. B, Schematic representation of the approach used to
test for enzymatic activity of prorenin in vivo. Double-transgenic mice
expressing human angiotensinogen (the renin substrate) and
human active renin, human native prorenin, or human noncleavable
prorenin in the pituitary gland were generated, and the mice were
assayed for increased pituitary content of Ang I.
|
|
Prorenin is also present in the circulation of mammals at levels
that often largely exceed the concentration of renin.4 5
This prorenin is secreted not only from the kidney but also from
numerous other tissues, including adrenal and pituitary glands, brain,
eyes, ovaries, testes, uterus, and placenta. Moreover, these tissues
express the other components of the RAS,6 7 8 raising the
possibility that local RASs may exist that display activity only within
tissues. However, these nonrenal tissues do not secrete active renin,
because removal of the kidneys causes active renin to disappear from
the circulation, whereas prorenin remains detectable even years
later.9 10 11 Activation of prorenin does not occur once it
is secreted into the circulation, given that injection of monkeys with
large amounts of recombinant human prorenin does not lead to any
significant increase in circulating renin activity, blood pressure, or
plasma angiotensin II (Ang II).12 In contrast,
transgenic rats engineered to secrete prorenin from the liver show
tissue pathologies (renal and cardiac) in the absence of increases in
circulating active renin.13 Taken together, these results
raise the possibility that prorenin is activated locally within
tissues and contributes to tissue RAS activity and
cardiovascular pathologies.
We have developed a double-transgenic mouse approach to test for the
enzymatic activity of human prorenin (Figure 1B
). In this
system, the renin substrate (human angiotensinogen) and its
potential protease (either human active renin, human native prorenin,
or human noncleavable prorenin) are expressed in a specific cell type
(pituitary somatotrophs) of individual lines of mice. Selected lines of
single-transgenic mice were mated, and pituitary glands were excised
from double-transgenic offspring expressing both human
angiotensinogen and 1 of the human prorenins. Tissue
content of Ang I (the product of the reaction) was determined as an
indicator of renin enzymatic activity.
 |
Materials and Methods
|
|---|
Plasmid Constructions and Generation of Transgenic Mice
Human prorenin
14 and human
angiotensinogen
15 cDNAs were expressed
under
the transcriptional control of a 320-bp fragment of rat
growth hormone
promoter.
16 Intron and polyadenylation signals
for the
transcribed RNA are provided by a portion of the simian
virus 40 large
T antigen gene (Figure 2

).
Engineering of human
active renin was achieved by modification of the
native prorenin
cleavage site (PMKRL) to
RMKR
S,
so that it is cut by furin,
a ubiquitous Golgi-anchored convertase,
resulting in the constitutive
secretion of active renin from the
cell.
17 In the human noncleavable
prorenin, the Lys in
position 42 of the prosegment (PM
KRL) was
mutated to Ala,
which prevents cleavage by known proteases.
14 The 4
transgenes were independently coinjected with the tyrosinase
minigene
into the pronuclei of single-cell embryos from the
FVB/N albino mouse
line, as previously described.
18 Double-transgenic
mice
were generated by mating single-transgenic mice expressing
1 of the
human prorenins (active renin, native prorenin, or
noncleavable
prorenin) with single-transgenic mice expressing
human
angiotensinogen. All animal manipulations were carried
out
in accordance with institutional guidelines and were approved
by a
local ethics committee.

View larger version (26K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
|
Figure 2. Diagram of transgenes used in this study.
Mutations relative to the native prorenin cleavage site are underlined.
rGH indicates rat growth hormone promoter; PRO, human prorenin
prosegment; AOGEN, angiotensinogen; and SV40, simian virus
40 T antigen splice and polyadenylation signal. Arrow indicates
expected and putative cleavage sites for the various prorenins;
question mark indicates questionable cleavage; and crossed-out arrow
indicates no cleavage. Drawings are not to scale. See text for
details.
|
|
Expression of Transgenes
RNA was isolated from whole tissues of male mice by the acid
guanidinium thiocyanate-phenol chloroform method.19 To
prepare labeled RNA probes, human prorenin from nucleotides
401 to 650 of the cDNA and human angiotensinogen from
nucleotides 178 to 377 of the cDNA were subcloned in the
Bluescript II KS+ plasmid (Stratagene). RNase protection assays were
carried out by using the Promega Riboprobe Gemini System
(Promega Corp) according to the manufacturer's protocol. To compare
prorenin expression levels in the different transgenic lines,
unquantified total RNA from 2 pooled pituitary glands was hybridized
with 5x103 cpm 32P-labeled
RNA probe for human prorenin and 5x103 cpm
32P-labeled RNA probe for human
angiotensinogen overnight at 45°C in hybridization buffer
containing 80% formamide. Yeast RNA (5 µg) and RNA from
nontransgenic mouse pituitary glands were treated similarly to negative
controls, and RNA products from in vitro transcription of human
prorenin and human angiotensinogen were hybridized as
positive controls. To test for tissue specificity of transgene
expression, 5 µg of total RNA from brain, liver, kidney, and heart
were also hybridized under the same conditions. Protected fragments
after RNase A and T1 digestion were fractionated on a 6%
polyacrylamide-7 mol/L urea denaturing gel and were then
exposed to x-ray film for 5 days at -80°C using intensifying
screens. The protected fragments of prorenin and
angiotensinogen were 250 and 200 nucleotides in
length, respectively. Relative expression of prorenin in the various
double-transgenic lines was estimated by comparing the expression of
human prorenin with that of human angiotensinogen (all
animals were bred against the same human
angiotensinogen-producing line). Animals were classified as
expressing more prorenin than angiotensinogen (+++),
equivalent prorenin and angiotensinogen (++), or less
prorenin than angiotensinogen (+/).
Determination of Pituitary Ang I Content
Pituitary glands surgically excised from 5 male mice were pooled
and immediately sonicated in cold 1% trifluoroacetic acid (TFA)
solution (pH 1.5) and cleared by centrifugation, and
their peptide content was separated by HPLC. The HPLC separation was
performed on a C18 column (Waters Corp). Solvent
A consisted of 0.1% TFA in water; solvent B, 0.1% TFA in
acetonitrile. Flow rate was 1 mL per 47 minutes, and 40 fractions were
collected using a gradient of 20% to 40% solvent B over 40 minutes.
Pituitary Ang I content of the eluted fractions was measured by an Ang
I RIA (DuPont NEN) and was detected in the identical fraction as a
commercial Ang I standard. The acid extraction used was designed to
avoid in vitro activation of prorenin, activity of released proteases,
and degradation of angiotensin peptides. Ang I recovery
using this method was determined to be
70%. Statistical
analysis was performed by 1-way ANOVA with Dunnett
posttest.
Western Blot Analysis of Human Prorenin
Pituitary glands from 2 male transgenic mice were surgically
excised and lysed in 450 µL of a buffer containing (in mmol/L)
Tris (pH 8.0) 10, NaCl 10, and EDTA 1 and 0.1% SDS. The lysates were
passed repeatedly through a 25-gauge needle and were immunoprecipitated
with a rabbit polyclonal antibody to prorenin and renin.
Immunoprecipitated proteins were fractionated by SDS10% PAGE, and
human prorenin and renin were detected by Western blot with a mouse
monoclonal antibody specific for human prorenin and renin (a gift from
D. Lamarre, Bio-Mega, Quebec, Canada) using a chemiluminescence kit
(SuperSignal, Pierce).
Renin Activity in Transfected Cells
Rat pituitary GH4C1 cells were grown in
DMEM supplemented with 5% (vol/vol) FCS, 0.1% serXtend (Irvine
Scientific), and 10 µg/mL gentamicin (Life Technologies, Inc) in a
humidified incubator (5% CO2, 95% air) at
37°C. GH4C1 cells, plated at
1x106 cells per 35-mm dish, were transfected 20
hours after plating with lipofectin (Life Technologies, Inc) in
serum-free medium using 18 µg of human angiotensinogen
plasmid DNA alone or in combination with either 2 µg of human active
renin plasmid DNA or 2 µg of human native prorenin plasmid DNA per
dish. After 20 hours, cells were transferred to 12-well plates in
medium with serum. Twenty-four hours later the supernatants were
collected and boiled for 2 minutes, and the cells were lysed in a
solution of 0.5% Triton X-100 in Tris-buffered saline and
boiled. Ang I content was measured by an Ang I RIA (DuPont NEN).
 |
Results
|
|---|
Transgene expression was targeted specifically to the somatotrophs
of
the pituitary gland by putting the human renin and
angiotensinogen
cDNAs under the transcriptional control of
the rat growth hormone
gene promoter. Human prorenin and human
angiotensinogen mRNA
were monitored in various tissues
(brain, heart, kidney, liver,
and pituitary gland) and were detectable
only within the pituitary
gland (Figure 3

), confirming the anterior pituitary
glandspecific
activity of the rat growth hormone
promoter.
16 20 21 We have
studied 8 independent lines of
animals expressing the 3 different
types of human prorenin transgenes.
The relative levels of transgene
expression in each line were compared
by quantifying mRNA transcripts
in the pituitary glands of transgenic
mice (Figure 4

). Because
all of these
lines were crossed with the same human
angiotensinogen-expressing
line, the
angiotensinogen mRNA signal was used as an internal
reference
to compare the level of prorenin mRNA expression in the
various
lines. Because of the species-specific reactivity between renin
and
angiotensinogen,
22 23 it is possible to
express the 2 human
proteins in the mouse without producing
compounding effects
from the endogenous mouse RAS
components. Measurement of pituitary
Ang I in this system (Figure 1B

) is a direct indicator of renin
activity within the same
tissue, given that Ang I released into
the circulation would be rapidly
diluted and converted to Ang
II by the
angiotensin-converting enzyme present in vascular
endothelium
(Figure 1A

). Human prorenin and
human renin were undetectable
in the plasma of transgenic lines (data
not shown).

View larger version (57K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
|
Figure 3. Pituitary glandspecific expression of the human
renin transgene. Total RNA from the designated tissues of transgenic
line 34 (expressing native human prorenin) was hybridized with a human
prorenin-specific antisense RNA probe. *Nonspecific bands arising from
digestion of the probe. PRO indicates the expected position for the
human prorenin-protected fragment after RNase digestion.
|
|

View larger version (60K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
|
Figure 4. Relative expression of the human transgenes in
various transgenic lines. Comparison of the mRNA levels of 8
independent double-transgenic lines of animals expressing human
angiotensinogen (AOGEN) and 1 of the 3 different human
prorenins (active renin, native prorenin, or noncleavable prorenin) by
RNase protection assay. Each of the lines generated with the different
human prorenin transgenes was crossed with the same
angiotensinogen-expressing line, and the
angiotensinogen mRNA signal was used as an internal
reference to compare the different prorenin mRNA levels. M indicates
size marker; NT, nontransgenic control; and ST, standards. Expected
positions for the human prorenin (PRO)protected and human
angiotensinogen-protected fragments are designated at the
right. *Nonspecific bands.
|
|
To test for the Ang Igenerating activity of human active renin in
this system, we engineered a mutation in human prorenin (Figure 2
) that renders the prosegment sensitive to removal by a
ubiquitous protease (furin) present in the secretory
pathway.24 25 26 The advantage of this approach for
generating active renin is the conservation of the prosegment during
the early stages of protein biosynthesis, when it is required for
efficient protein folding,14 while allowing the removal of
the prosegment before secretion in a broad variety of cell
types17 (also D. Methot et al, unpublished results,
1998). Mice expressing both human active renin and human
angiotensinogen have marked increases in pituitary Ang I
content (Figure 5
, hatched bars) as
compared with single-transgenic mice expressing only human
angiotensinogen (Figure 5
, open bar). Pituitary Ang
I was not detectable in any of the transgenic mice expressing only the
various human prorenins (not crossed with
angiotensinogen-expressing mice) or in nontransgenic
controls. Repeated assays within the same transgenic lines yielded
highly reproducible results and demonstrate that transgenic mice can be
used as a sensitive measure for tissue-specific activity of human
renin.

View larger version (25K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
|
Figure 5. Pituitary content of Ang I in double-transgenic
mice. Pituitary Ang I content was determined in pituitary glands of
transgenic mice expressing either human angiotensinogen
alone (open bar) or in combination with human active renin (hatched
bar), human native prorenin (solid bar), or human noncleavable prorenin
(stippled bar). Ang I content was not detectable from either
nontransgenic mice or individual single-transgenic mice expressing only
the various prorenins. Relative levels of prorenin transgene expression
in the various lines (derived from Figure 4 ) are indicated by + and
signs shown above the bars (see Materials and Methods for
classifications). Each data point is derived from a pool of 5 pituitary
glands, and results are expressed as the quantity in picograms of Ang
I/pituitary gland. Data are mean±SE. **P<0.01,
*P<0.05 vs mice expressing only human
angiotensinogen by 1-way ANOVA with Dunnett post-test.
AOGEN indicates angiotensinogen.
|
|
We then tested whether prorenin itself could generate Ang I under these
conditions by crossing the same line of
angiotensinogen-expressing mice with lines of mice
expressing human native prorenin. Interestingly, these
double-transgenic mice also have clearly elevated pituitary Ang I
content (Figure 5
, solid bars), which suggests that human
prorenin is enzymatically active against its substrate within the mouse
pituitary gland. The relative amounts of Ang I generated in the
pituitary glands of the various crosses correlated well with the levels
of expression of prorenin mRNA in those lines (as
represented by +/ signs above the bars in Figure 5
). To test whether prorenin had been rendered active in the
pituitary gland by the proteolytic removal of its prosegment, mice
expressing human angiotensinogen were crossed with a line
expressing human prorenin in which the native prosegment cleavage site
(Lys42, Arg43) was mutated (Ala42, Arg43) so as to be noncleavable
(Figure 2
). The finding that Ang I content is also elevated in
the pituitary gland of these mice suggests that prorenin exhibits
enzymatic activity with the prosegment still in place (Figure 5
, stippled bar).
To confirm the form of the enzymatically active prorenin present in
these pituitary glands, we performed Western blot analysis of
pituitary homogenates (Figure 6
). Analysis of pituitary glands
from a line expressing human active renin (line 33) reveals 2 bands
corresponding in size to prorenin and proteolytically activated
renin. This result is expected, as furin cleavage of the modified
prorenin is seldom complete (T. Reudelhuber, unpublished observation,
1998). Analysis of pituitary glands from mice expressing
human native prorenin (line 50) reveals a single band that migrates
with the expected size of full-length prorenin. No band corresponding
to proteolytically activated renin could be detected in the
pituitary glands of native prorenin-expressing mice even at much longer
exposures. Thus, the catalytic activity seen with human native prorenin
is not due to proteolytic cleavage of the prosegment within the
pituitary gland.

View larger version (41K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
|
Figure 6. Western blot analysis of human prorenin
and human renin in pituitary glands of transgenic mice. Human
renin/prorenin expressed in transgenic mouse pituitary gland was
analyzed by coupled immunoprecipitation and Western blot
analysis. Nontransgenic control (NT), single-transgenic line 50
expressing human native prorenin, and single-transgenic line 33
expressing human active renin are shown. Arrows indicate predicted
sizes of prorenin (upper band) and renin (lower band) based on
coelectrophoresis of molecular weight markers. Results are from a
single experiment, the results of which were confirmed in a second,
independent experiment.
|
|
One possible explanation for the ability of prorenin to cleave its
substrate in the pituitary glands of double-transgenic mice is that the
2 proteins meet in the secretory pathway of expressing cells before the
prorenin has completed its folding to the repressed state. To test
whether Ang I generation could occur intracellularly, cultured
GH4C1 (rat somatotroph) cells were cotransfected
with expression vectors for human angiotensinogen either
alone or with one of the human prorenins. The results
(Table
) show that coexpression of human
angiotensinogen and human active renin leads to the
detection of Ang I in the supernatant of transfected cells, but not in
cell lysates. In contrast, cotransfection of human
angiotensinogen and human native prorenin does not lead to
generation of Ang I either in the cell culture supernatant or within
the transfected cells. These results suggest that
angiotensinogen cleavage does not occur within the cell and
that, unlike renin and prorenin expressed in the in vivo model,
prorenin is unable to carry out the cleavage of
angiotensinogen after secretion into the serum-containing
culture supernatant.
 |
Discussion
|
|---|
Using a sensitive and specific in vivo enzymatic assay, we have
obtained
2 independent lines of evidence that human prorenin does not
need
to be proteolytically cleaved to display enzymatic activity
within
the pituitary gland. First, both native prorenin and
noncleavable
prorenin are capable of generating Ang I in the
in vivo assay (Figure 5

). Second, Western blot analysis of enzymatically
active
prorenin shows that it retains its prosegment (Figure 6

).
These
findings strongly suggest that prorenin can be activated
within
tissues by means other than proteolytic cleavage. Although the
actual
mechanism whereby prorenin is activated in tissues
remains to
be elucidated, it is highly likely that the prosegment,
which
is predicted to fold over the substrate-binding cleft of the
enzyme,
27 is able to unfold and to transiently expose the
active site
of the enzyme. The conditions favoring this activation must
be
particular to the extracellular space in tissues, because prorenin
catalytic
activity is not detectable in either the
circulation
12 or in
the lysates or supernatants of cells
cotransfected with prorenin
and angiotensinogen
(Table

).
Ang II has been proposed to play a role in the modulation of secretion
of several pituitary hormones, including adrenocorticotrophic hormone,
prolactin, and growth hormone.7 However, in our study,
mice with dramatically elevated levels of pituitary Ang I (the
immediate peptide precursor of Ang II) show no reproducible effects on
growth, reproduction, blood pressure, or pituitary hormone
content or distribution by immunostaining (data not
shown). These results might be explained by one of the following
factors. First, we have targeted expression of the transgenes to
somatotropes in this study, whereas in rodents the
endogenous renin gene is expressed in
gonadotropes,38 perhaps leading to a different tissue
distribution of produced peptides. Second, we have noted that pituitary
Ang II levels were not reproducibly elevated in mice expressing very
high amounts of Ang I, which suggests that the necessary Ang
IIgenerating enzyme (see Figure 1
) might be limiting. Finally,
our results could point to physiological
differences in the role of angiotensin peptides in
pituitary hormone secretion between the mice used in this study and the
much more thoroughly characterized rat model.
Prorenin is the only human aspartyl protease that does not cleave its
own prosegment. Autocatalysis in other aspartyl proteases is thought to
be initiated by a transient unfolding of the prosegment on contact of
the precursors with the acid pH of their environment.28
Thus, although it is not capable of autocatalysis, it is possible that
prorenin can also undergo transient unfolding under certain conditions,
allowing it to catalyze the conversion of its substrate. In vitro,
purified prorenin can be induced to exhibit reversible enzymatic
activity by prolonged exposure to acid pH or cold
storage.29 30 Thus, 1 possible explanation for the
prorenin activity seen in tissues could be the slightly more acidic pH
found in tissue interstitial spaces as compared with the
circulation.31 Alternatively, serum proteins might be
responsible for maintaining the inactive conformation of prorenin in
both the circulation and in tissue culture supernatants.
In certain body fluids, such as ovarian follicular
fluid,32 chorionic fluid,33 amniotic
fluid,34 and seminal fluid,35 as well as in
the ovarian and adrenal veins,36 prorenin
concentrations reach many times the levels found in plasma. Ang II is
also found in higher concentrations than in circulation in tissues such
as the adrenal gland,37 the pituitary
gland,38 and others,6 and the current study
suggests that it may be produced locally by tissue prorenin. A
transient unfolding of the prosegment of prorenin to exhibit enzymatic
activity within tissues might also allow modulation by local
physiological and
pathophysiological conditions.
Heart and vascular tissues have also been shown to take up renin and
prorenin from the circulation,39 40 and a specific
receptor for these has been reported.41 The ability of
tissues to activate prorenin by a nonenzymatic mechanism, as
well as the ability to capture circulating prorenin and renin,
strengthen the possibility that tissue RASs function in a locally
restricted manner.
 |
Acknowledgments
|
|---|
This research was supported by a Medical Research Council grant.
D.M.
is the recipient of a Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
scholarship.
We thank I. Daneau, D. Raiwet, and C. Mercure for expert
technical
assistance; Drs P. Corvol and D. Lamarre for reagents; and
Drs
C.F. Deschepper, G. Thibault, and M. Bouvier for helpful
comments.
Received September 30, 1999;
accepted February 10, 1999.
 |
References
|
|---|
-
Baker D, Shiau AK, Agard DA. The role of pro
regions in protein folding. Curr Opin Cell Biol. 1993;5:966970.[Medline]
[Order article via Infotrieve]
-
Griendling KK, Murphy TJ, Alexander RW. Molecular
biology of the renin-angiotensin system.
Circulation. 1993;87:18161828.[Free Full Text]
-
Ingelfinger JR, Dzau VJ. Molecular biology of renal
injury: emphasis on the role of the renin-angiotensin
system. J Am Soc Nephrol. 1991;2:S9S20.
-
Derkx FH, Schalekamp MA. Human prorenin:
pathophysiology and clinical implications. Clin Exp Hypertens
Theory Pract. 1988;10:12131225.
-
Kim S, Hosoi M, Nakajima K, Yamamoto K. Immunological
evidence that kidney is primary source of circulating inactive prorenin
in rats. Am J Physiol. 1991;260:E526E536.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
-
Phillips MI, Speakman EA, Kimura B. Levels of
angiotensin and molecular biology of the tissue renin
angiotensin systems. Regul Pep. 1993;43:120.[Medline]
[Order article via Infotrieve]
-
Ganong WF. Reproduction and the
renin-angiotensin system. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 1995;19:241250.[Medline]
[Order article via Infotrieve]
-
Wagner J, Jan Danser AH, Derkx FH, de Jong TV, Paul M,
Mullins JJ, Schalekamp MA, Ganten D. Demonstration of renin mRNA,
angiotensinogen mRNA, and angiotensin
converting enzyme mRNA expression in the human eye: evidence for an
intraocular renin-angiotensin system. Br J
Ophthalmol. 1996;80:159163.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
-
Campbell DJ, Kladis A, Skinner SL, Whitworth JA.
Characterization of angiotensin peptides in plasma of
anephric man. J Hypertens. 1991;9:265274.[Medline]
[Order article via Infotrieve]
-
Hosoi M, Kim S, Tabata T, Nishitani H, Nishizawa Y,
Morii H, Murakami K, Yamamoto K. Evidence for the presence of
differently glycosylated forms of prorenin in the plasma of anephric
man. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1992;74:680684.[Abstract]
-
Sealey JE, Moon C, Laragh JH, Atlas SA. Plasma prorenin
in normal, hypertensive, and anephric subjects and its effect on renin
measurements. Circ Res. 1977;40 (suppl I):I-41I-45.
-
Lenz T, Sealey JE, Maack T, James GD, Heinrikson RL,
Marion D, Laragh JH. Half-life, hemodynamic, renal, and
hormonal effects of prorenin in cynomolgus monkeys. Am J
Physiol. 1991;260:R804R810.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
-
Véniant M, Ménard J, Bruneval P, Morley S,
Gonzales M, Mullins J. Vascular damage without hypertension in
transgenic rats expressing prorenin exclusively in the liver.
J Clin Invest. 1997;98:19661970.[Medline]
[Order article via Infotrieve]
-
Mercure C, Thibault G, Lussier-Cacan S, Davignon J,
Schiffrin EL, Reudelhuber TL. Molecular analysis of human
prorenin prosegment variants in vitro and in vivo. J Biol
Chem. 1995;270:1635516359.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
-
Gaillard I, Clauser E, Corvol P. Structure of human
angiotensinogen gene. DNA. 1989;8:8799.[Medline]
[Order article via Infotrieve]
-
Lira SA, Crenshaw EB 3d, Glass CK, Swanson LW,
Rosenfeld MG. Identification of rat growth hormone genomic sequences
targeting pituitary expression in transgenic mice. Proc Natl Acad
Sci U S A. 1988;85:47554759.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
-
Brechler V, Chu WN, Baxter JD, Thibault G, Reudelhuber
TL. A protease processing site is essential for prorenin sorting to the
regulated secretory pathway. J Biol Chem. 1996;271:2063620640.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
-
Methot D, Reudelhuber TL, Silversides DW. Evaluation of
tyrosinase minigene co-injection as a marker for genetic manipulations
in transgenic mice. Nucleic Acids Res. 1995;23:45514556.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
-
Chomczynski P, Sacchi N. Single-step method of RNA
isolation by acid guanidinium thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform extraction.
Anal Biochem. 1987;162:156159.[Medline]
[Order article via Infotrieve]
-
Behringer RR, Mathews LS, Palmiter RD, Brinster RL.
Dwarf mice produced by genetic ablation of growth hormone-expressing
cells. Genes Dev. 1988;2:453461.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
-
Borrelli E, Heyman RA, Arias C, Sawchenko PE, Evans RM.
Transgenic mice with inducible dwarfism. Nature. 1989;339:538541.[Medline]
[Order article via Infotrieve]
-
Hatae T, Takimoto E, Murakami K, Fukamizu A.
Comparative studies on species-specific reactivity between renin and
angiotensinogen. Mol Cell Biochem. 1994;131:4347.[Medline]
[Order article via Infotrieve]
-
Oliver WJ, Gross F. Unique specificity of mouse
angiotensinogen to homologous renin. Proc Soc Exp
Biol Med. 1966;122:923926.[Medline]
[Order article via Infotrieve]
-
Schalken JA, Roebroek AJ, Oomen PP, Wagenaar SS,
Debruyne FM, Bloemers HP, Van de Ven WJ. fur gene expression
as a discriminating marker for small cell and nonsmall cell lung
carcinomas. J Clin Invest. 1987;80:15451549.
-
Bresnahan PA, Leduc R, Thomas L, Thorner J, Gibson
HL, Brake AJ, Barr PJ, Thomas G. Human fur gene encodes a yeast
KEX2-like endoprotease that cleaves pro-beta-NGF in vivo. J
Cell Biol. 1990;111:28512859.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
-
Hatsuzawa K, Hosaka M, Nakagawa T, Nagase M, Shoda A,
Murakami K, Nakayama K. Structure and expression of mouse furin, a
yeast Kex2-related protease: lack of processing of coexpressed prorenin
in GH4C1 cells. J Biol Chem. 1990;265:2207522078.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
-
Hsueh WA, Baxter JD. Human prorenin.
Hypertension. 1991;17:469479.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
-
Dunn B. Splitting image. Nat Struct Biol. 1997;4:969972.[Medline]
[Order article via Infotrieve]
-
Derkx FH, Schalekamp MP, Schalekamp MA. Two-step
prorenin-renin conversion: isolation of an intermediary form of
activated prorenin. J Biol Chem. 1987;262:24722477.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
-
Pitarresi TM, Rubattu S, Heinrikson R, Sealey JE.
Reversible cryoactivation of recombinant human prorenin. J
Biol Chem. 1992;267:1175311759.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
-
Martin GR, Jain RK. Noninvasive measurement of
interstitial pH profiles in normal and neoplastic tissue
using fluorescence ratio imaging microscopy. Cancer
Res. 1994;54:56705674.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
-
Glorioso N, Atlas SA, Laragh JH, Jewelewicz R, Sealey
JE. Prorenin in high concentrations in human ovarian follicular
fluid. Science. 1986;233:14221424.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
-
Itskovitz J, Rubattu S, Levron J, Sealey JE.
Highest concentrations of prorenin and human chorionic
gonadotropin in gestational sacs during early human pregnancy.
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1992;75:906910.[Abstract]
-
Skinner SL, Cran EJ, Gibson R, Taylor R, Walters WA,
Catt KJ. Angiotensins I and II, active and inactive renin,
renin substrate, renin activity, and angiotensinase in
human liquor amnii and plasma. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1975;121:626630.[Medline]
[Order article via Infotrieve]
-
Mukhopadhyay AK, Cobilanschi J, Schulze W,
Brunswig-Spickenheier B, Leidenberger FA. Human seminal fluid contains
significant quantities of prorenin: its correlation with the sperm
density. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 1995;109:219224.[Medline]
[Order article via Infotrieve]
-
Sealey JE, Rubattu S. Prorenin and renin as separate
mediators of tissue and circulating systems. Am J
Hypertens. 1989;2:358366.[Medline]
[Order article via Infotrieve]
-
Husain A, DeSilva P, Speth RC, Bumpus FM. Regulation of
angiotensin II in rat adrenal gland. Circ Res. 1987;60:640648.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
-
Deschepper CF, Crumrine DA, Ganong WF. Evidence that
the gonadotrophs are the likely site of production of
angiotensin II in the anterior pituitary of the rat.
Endocrinology. 1986;119:3643.[Abstract]
-
Danser AH, Schalekamp MA. Is there an internal cardiac
renin-angiotensin system? Heart. 1996;76:2832.
-
Muller DN, Hilgers KF, Bohlender J, Lippoldt A, Wagner
J, Fischli W, Ganten D, Mann JF, Luft FC. Effects of human renin in the
vasculature of rats transgenic for human angiotensinogen.
Hypertension. 1995;26:272278.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
-
Sealey JE, Catanzaro DF, Lavin TN, Gahnem F, Pitarresi
T, Hu LF, Laragh JH. Specific prorenin/renin binding (ProBP):
identification and characterization of a novel membrane site.
Am J Hypertens. 1996;9:491502.[Medline]
[Order article via Infotrieve]
This article has been cited by other articles:

|
 |

|
 |
 
G. Nguyen and A. H. J. Danser
Prorenin and (pro)renin receptor: a review of available data from in vitro studies and experimental models in rodents
Exp Physiol,
May 1, 2008;
93(5):
557 - 563.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
N. Lochard, D. W. Silversides, J. P. van Kats, C. Mercure, and T. L. Reudelhuber
Brain-specific Restoration of Angiotensin II Corrects Renal Defects Seen in Angiotensinogen-deficient Mice
J. Biol. Chem.,
January 17, 2003;
278(4):
2184 - 2189.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
K. M. I. Caron, L. R. James, H.-S. Kim, S. G. Morham, M. L. S. S. Lopez, R. A. Gomez, T. L. Reudelhuber, and O. Smithies
A genetically clamped renin transgene for the induction of hypertension
PNAS,
June 11, 2002;
99(12):
8248 - 8252.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
J. J. Saris, M. M.E.D. van den Eijnden, J. M.J. Lamers, P. R. Saxena, M. A.D.H. Schalekamp, and A.H. J. Danser
Prorenin-Induced Myocyte Proliferation: No Role for Intracellular Angiotensin II
Hypertension,
February 1, 2002;
39(2):
573 - 577.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
M. M. E. D. van den Eijnden, J. J. Saris, R. J. A. de Bruin, E. de Wit, W. Sluiter, T. L. Reudelhuber, M. A. D. H. Schalekamp, F. H. M. Derkx, and A. H. J. Danser
Prorenin Accumulation and Activation in Human Endothelial Cells : Importance of Mannose 6-Phosphate Receptors
Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol.,
June 1, 2001;
21(6):
911 - 916.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
J. J. Saris, F. H. M. Derkx, R. J. A. De Bruin, D. H. W. Dekkers, J. M. J. Lamers, P. R. Saxena, M. A. D. H. Schalekamp, and A. H. Jan Danser
High-affinity prorenin binding to cardiac man-6-P/IGF-II receptors precedes proteolytic activation to renin
Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol,
April 1, 2001;
280(4):
H1706 - H1715.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
G. PRESCOTT, D. W. SILVERSIDES, S. M. L. CHIU, and T. L. REUDELHUBER
Contribution of circulating renin to local synthesis of angiotensin peptides in the heart
Physiol Genomics,
November 9, 2000;
4(1):
67 - 73.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|