UPDATE ON THE RENIN-ANGIOTENSIN SYSTEM - RECENT ADVANCES IN MOLECULAR-BIOLOGY

The major influence of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) on blood pressure control has focused interest on its contribution to the development of hypertension in humans. Rapid progress has been made in all aspects of the molecular biology of its components. Renin, angiotensinogen, converting enzyme and, the angiotensin receptor gene have been cloned. The possible role of the renin-angiotensin system in the pathogenesis of hypertension has been demonstrated in transgenic rats, which developed severe hypertension after integration of a mouse renin gene (Ren-2) into their genome. Strikingly, these rats showed low plasma renin activity but excessive extrarenal renin expression, supporting a role of tissue-specific renin-angiotensin systems in the control of blood pressure. New and highly sensitive methods, such as the polymerase chain reaction, have been succesfully used in study of the regulation of gene expression of these tissue-specific renin-angiotensin systems in hypertension, cardiovascular hypertrophy and heart failure.