MOLECULAR-BIOLOGY OF RENIN .1. GENE AND PROTEIN-STRUCTURE, SYNTHESIS AND PROCESSING

Purpose: This two-part review aims to consolidate information on renin structure, synthesis, precursor processing, intracellular shunting an d transcriptional control. Such revolutionary advances in the molecula r knowledge of renin stem from the cloning of mouse renin complementar y DNA in the early 1980s. Contents: Amongst many of the key studies su ch as cloning of human, mouse and rat renin genes, which have been cru cial to progress, several highlights covered in this part include: dif ferences in DNA sequences that might explain species differences in ti ssue-specific expression; identification of inactive renin as pro-reni n, the activation site and the molecular explanation for this activati on by many proteases; a different processing site for rat pro-renin; a nd identification of cathepsin B as a likely pro-renin activator in ki dney and a kallikrein as the activator of the duplicated mouse renin g ene product. Conclusion: Cloning of the renin gene has greatly increas ed our understanding of the processes that precede secretion of this i mportant enzyme.