Apelin, a peptide widely expressed in the body, is the endogenous ligand for the APJ receptor. To investigate how the apelin gene is regulated transcriptionally, we cloned and characterized approximately 3000 and approximately 4000 bp 5'-upstream fragments of the rat and human apelin genes. Putative CAAT-like box, but not TATA-box sites were identified. The rat (-207/-1 bp) and human (-100/+74 ...

AIM Vasopressin exerts robust influences on social communication and behavior in humans. Apelin is a relatively novel neuropeptide that could counteract vasopressin's actions and has been shown to be closely related with a broad range of physiological functions. Abnormalities in vasopressin and apelin have been detected in a variety of psychiatric disorders, but their relation to attention-defi...

RATIONALE Neovascularization stimulated by local or recruited stem cells after ischemia is a key process that salvages damaged tissue and shows similarities with embryonic vascularization. Apelin receptor (Aplnr) and its endogenous ligand apelin play an important role in cardiovascular development. However, the role of apelin signaling in stem cell recruitment after ischemia is unknown. OBJEC...

BACKGROUND Adipocyte-secreted apelin contributes to decreased adiposity and to improved insulin resistance, but the mechanisms remain unknown. The present study aimed to assess if apelin-13 is an upstream signal regulation factor of aquaporin 7 (AQP7), a water-glycerol transporter present in the plasma membrane of adipocytes that plays a key role in the regulation of lipid accumulation. MATER...

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) can form new vessels through differentiation into endothelial cells (ECs), thus being important in the prevention of hypoxia/ischemia. Apelin can activate different signaling pathways through its receptor, APLNR, which regulate diverse biological functions, including cardiovascular function. However, the molecular mechanism by which Apelin mediates hypoxia-in...

34 35 Apelin, an endogenous ligand for APJ receptor, has been reported to be upregulated in 36 paraventricular nucleus (PVN) following stress. Central apelin is known to stimulate release 37 of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) via APJ receptor. We tested the hypothesis that stress38 induced gastrointestinal (GI) dysfunction is mediated by central apelin. We also assessed the 39 effect of ex...

Abstract Introduction Apelin is a vasoactive peptide isolated as a selective endogenous ligand of orphan receptor, APJ, which was genetically identified to have closest identity to the angiotensin II type 1 (AT-1) receptor. Subsequent studies elucidated the roles of the apelin–APJ system in human physiology, including the regulation of cardiovascular function and fluid homeostasis. In spite of ...

The efficacy of therapeutic angiogenesis for revascularization in ischemia using genes, proteins, and cells has been established. For further improvement, processes allowing enlargement of the luminal cavity to facilitate efficient blood flow need to be facilitated. Recently, we found that expression of APJ and its specific ligand, apelin, is seen in endothelial cells when angiogenesis is takin...

OBJECTIVE The endogenous peptide apelin is differentially regulated in cardiovascular disease but the nature of its role in cardiac function remains unclear. METHODS We investigated the functional relevance of this peptide using ECG and respiration gated magnetic resonance imaging, conductance catheter pressure-volume hemodynamic measurements, and echocardiography in vivo. In addition, we car...