The role of the vasoactive peptide endothelin-1 (ET-1) in renal injury is not fully understood. In this review, we examine the genetic models available to understand the autocrine/paracrine mechanisms by which ET-1 leads to renal injury and propose the working hypothesis that endothelium-derived ET-1 induces renal injury by initiating renal tubular apoptosis in a paracrine manner.
Keywords: apoptosis; endothelin-1; renal injury.
Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.