Abstract
In hypertension, increased peripheral resistance maintains elevated levels of arterial blood pressure. The increase in peripheral ressitance results, in part, from abnormal constrictor and dilator responses and vascular remodeling. In this review, we consider four cellular signaling pathways as possible explanations for these abnormal vascular responses: (1) augmented signaling via the epidermal growth factor receptor to cause remodeling of the cerebrovasculature; (2) reduced sphingolipid signaling leading to blunted vasodilation and increased smooth muscle proliferation; (3) increased signaling via Rho/Rho kinase leading to enhanced vasoconstriction, and (4) a relative state of microtubular depolymerization favoring vasoconstriction in hypertension. These novel cell signaling pathways provide new pharmacological targets to reduce total peripheral vascular resistance in hypertension. Copyright (C) 2000 National Science Council.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 431-443 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Journal of Biomedical Science |
Volume | 7 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2000 |
Keywords
- Ceramide
- Epidermal growth factor
- GTP binding proteins
- Microtubules
- Vascular smooth muscle
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
- Molecular Biology
- Clinical Biochemistry
- Cell Biology
- Biochemistry, medical
- Pharmacology (medical)