1. Plasma prorenin (inactive renin), which accounts for about 70% of the total renin in human plasma, was almost completely separated from active renin by affinity chromatography on Cibacron blue F3G-A-agarose. The slight residual renin activity present in the prorenin peak can be removed on concanavalin A-Sepharose, demonstrating that prorenin is completely inactive. 2. The renin activity of b...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine the relative expression of clinically-relevant components of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in the adult human eye. METHODS We obtained 14 post-mortem enucleated human eyes from patients whom had no history of inflammatory ocular disease nor pre-mortem ocular infection. We determined the gene expression for prorenin, renin, prorenin recep...

The (pro)renin receptor (PRR) binds renin and prorenin, its proenzyme inactive form. Receptor-bound prorenin becomes enzymatically active and binding then activates the MAP kinases ERK1/2 and p38 pathways, leading to upregulation of profibrotic and cyclooxygenase-2 genes independent of angiotensin II generation. These characteristics explain the interest in the potential role of PRR in organ da...

The molecular biology of renin, prorenin, and the renin gene have been studied. A tissue-specific pattern of expression was found in rat and human tissues. In the human placenta, the transfected and endogenous renin promoters are active, and renin mRNA levels and transfected promoter activity are increased by a calcium ionophore plus cAMP. Cultured pituitary AtT-20 cells transfected with a prep...

Incubation of human plasma prorenin (PR), the enzymatically inactive precursor of renin (EC 3.4.23.15), with a number of nonpeptide high-affinity active site-directed renin inhibitors induces a conformational change in PR, which was detected by a monoclonal antibody that reacts with active renin but not with native inactive PR. This conformational change also occurred when inactive PR was activ...

OBJECTIVE The hypertrophic response of cardiomyocytes exposed to mechanical stretch is assumed to depend on the release of angiotensin (Ang) II from these cells. Here we studied the synthesis of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) components by cardiac cells under basal conditions and after stretch. METHODS Myocytes and fibroblasts were isolated by enzymatic dissociation from hearts of 1-3-day-old...