S. Hori et al., DISTINCT TISSUE DISTRIBUTION AND CELLULAR-LOCALIZATION OF 2 MESSENGERRIBONUCLEIC-ACIDS ENCODING DIFFERENT SUBTYPES OF RAT ENDOTHELIN RECEPTORS, Endocrinology, 130(4), 1992, pp. 1885-1895
Endothelins (ETs) are very potent vasoconstrictive peptides and have d
iverse functions in both vascular and nonvascular tissues. This invest
igation concerns the tissue distribution and cellular localization of
rat mRNAs encoding two different subtypes of ET receptors (ET(A) and E
T(B)). We isolated 46 cDNA clones from a rat lung cDNA library by hybr
idization with the bovine ET(A) cDNA. The characterization of these cD
NA clones indicated that they represent either the ET(A) or ET(B) cDNA
. In situ and blot hybridization analyses revealed that the rat ET(A)
mRNA is predominantly expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells of a v
ariety of tissues, bronchial smooth muscle cells, myocardium, and the
pituitary gland. There is no significant expression of ET(B) mRNA in v
ascular smooth muscle cells, and ET(A), thus, plays a primary role in
ET-induced vascular contraction. ET(B) mRNA is more widely distributed
in various cell types of many tissues. Its prominent expression is se
en in glial cells throughout the brain regions, epithelial cells of th
e choroid plexus, ependymal cells lining the ventricle, myocardium, en
dothelial cells of glomeruli, and epithelial cells of the thin segment
s of Henle's loops. Our investigation demonstrates that the mRNAs for
the two subtypes of rat ET receptors show specialized expression patte
rns of cell types in both brain and peripheral tissues.