Endothelins: a family of regulatory peptides. State-of-the-art lecture.

P eptide hormones are nearly ubiquitous in the body and play a major role in regulating homeostasis. Serving in an endocrine, paracrine, or neuroendocrine role, peptide hormones regulate such diverse physiological processes as cardiovascular hemodynamics; neurotransmission or neuromodulation; contractility of skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscle; and control of cell proliferation. Peptide hormones also have been postulated to play a major pathophysiological role in such processes as atherosclerosis, hypertension, and perhaps even oncogenesis. 1 Thus, it comes as no surprise that the recent discovery of a new peptide hormone, endothelin (ET), has attracted much attention. 2 This review is intended to serve two functions: first, to provide an overview and bibliographic guide to ET biochemistry and physiology, and second, to outline what is known about the pathways of transmembrane signaling by which ET peptides elicit diverse biological actions. Limitations of space preclude exhaustive references; thus, the reader is directed to several recent reviews on specialized topics. 3 -5