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Current Protein & Peptide Science

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1389-2037
ISSN (Online): 1875-5550

Regulation of Adrenomedullin and its Family Peptide by RAMP System – Lessons from Genetically Engineered Mice

Author(s): Takayuki Shindo, Takayuki Sakurai, Akiko Kamiyoshi, Yuka Ichikawa-Shindo, Natsumi Shimoyama, Nobuyoshi Iinuma, Takuma Arai and Shinichi Miyagawa

Volume 14, Issue 5, 2013

Page: [347 - 357] Pages: 11

DOI: 10.2174/13892037113149990052

Price: $65

Abstract

Adrenomedullin (ADM), originally identified as a vasodilating peptide, is now recognized to be a pleiotropic molecule involved in both the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases and circulatory homeostasis.

Homozygotes of ADM knockout mice (ADM-/-) were lethal at mid-gestation with abnormalities of vascular development and this finding clarified the angiogenic potency of ADM. Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), which has a structure and function similar to that of ADM, has been identified as a family peptide of ADM. Unlike ADM-/-, CGRP-/- were apparently normal. Therefore, the study of knockout mice first clarified the distinctly different physiological roles between ADM and CGRP.

In contrast, heterozygotes of ADM knockout mice (ADM+/-) were alive but showed blood pressure elevation, reduced neovascularization, and enhanced neointimal formation by arterial injury.

Based on these observations, there was hope ADM would have a therapeutic use. However, ADM has a short half-life in the blood stream and its application in chronic disease has limitations. Therefore, we focused on the ADM receptor system. The calcitonin-receptor-like receptor (CLR), which is the ADM receptor, associates with one of the accessory proteins, called receptor activity-modifying proteins (RAMPs). By interacting with RAMP1, CLR exhibits a high affinity for CGRP, whereas by interacting with either RAMP2 or -3, CLR exhibits a high affinity for ADM.

We generated RAMP knockout mice and found that vascular phenotypes similar to ADM-/- were reproduced only in RAMP2-/-. This shows that RAMP2 is the key determinant of the vascular functions of ADM. RAMP2 could be an attractive therapeutic target in cardiovascular diseases.

Keywords: Adrenomedullin, receptor activity-modifying proteins, knockout mouse, angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis, endothelial cell.

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