STRUCTURE OF HUMAN ENDOTHELIN-2 GENE AND DEMONSTRATION OF COMMON EXPRESSION IN HUMAN RIGHT ATRIAL TISSUE

The endothelins (ET) are a group of three vasoactive peptides also kno wn to be involved in vascular remodeling. ET1 is the most extensively studied, but recent evidence has highlighted the role of the little in vestigated ET2 gene as a potential candidate gene in regulating blood pressure. To allow the future role of this gene to be studied the stru cture of human ET2 was characterized and intron/exon boundaries were d etermined. With this structural information and using reverse-transcri ptase PCR technology we show that the ET2 gene is commonly expressed i n human right atrial tissue. This work will allow a more detailed asse ssment of the role of this physiologically important gene in human ess ential hypertension. (C) 1998 Academic Press.