Tissue kallikrein-kinin therapy in hypertension and organ damage

Prog Drug Res. 2014:69:37-57. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-06683-7_3.

Abstract

Tissue kallikrein is a serine proteinase that cleaves low molecular weight kininogen to produce kinin peptides, which in turn activate kinin receptors to trigger multiple biological functions. In addition to its kinin-releasing activity, tissue kallikrein directly interacts with the kinin B2 receptor, protease-activated receptor-1, and gamma-epithelial Na channel. The tissue kallikrein-kinin system (KKS) elicits a wide spectrum of biological activities, including reducing hypertension, cardiac and renal damage, restenosis, ischemic stroke, and skin wound injury. Both loss-of-function and gain-of-function studies have shown that the KKS plays an important endogenous role in the protection against health pathologies. Tissue kallikrein/kinin treatment attenuates cardiovascular, renal, and brain injury by inhibiting oxidative stress, apoptosis, inflammation, hypertrophy, and fibrosis and promoting angiogenesis and neurogenesis. Approaches that augment tissue kallikrein-kinin activity might provide an effective strategy for the treatment of hypertension and associated organ damage.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antihypertensive Agents / metabolism
  • Antihypertensive Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Diabetes Mellitus / drug therapy
  • Diabetes Mellitus / enzymology
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Heart Diseases / enzymology
  • Heart Diseases / etiology
  • Heart Diseases / prevention & control
  • Humans
  • Hypertension / complications
  • Hypertension / drug therapy*
  • Hypertension / enzymology
  • Kidney Diseases / enzymology
  • Kidney Diseases / etiology
  • Kidney Diseases / prevention & control
  • Kinins / metabolism
  • Kinins / therapeutic use*
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects
  • Tissue Kallikreins / metabolism
  • Tissue Kallikreins / therapeutic use*
  • Vascular System Injuries / enzymology
  • Vascular System Injuries / prevention & control

Substances

  • Antihypertensive Agents
  • Kinins
  • Tissue Kallikreins