Cellular and Molecular Characterization of Angiotensin Receptor Subtypes

血管紧张素是一种小蛋白激素，在调节心血管、肾脏、内分泌和神经系统活动中起重要作用。虽然血管紧张素主要以其在调节血压和口渴中的作用而闻名，但现在有证据表明，这种蛋白质参与了多种中枢神经系统过程，包括细胞间传递、学习和记忆以及细胞生长和发育。最近对多种血管紧张素结合蛋白或受体的鉴定表明，功能特异性可能存在于单个受体亚型的水平上。Weyhenmeyer博士将识别单个血管紧张素受体亚型的细胞和分子特征，以确定哪些受体专门参与神经细胞的生长和发育。为了实现这一目标，他将在培养中培养表达不同血管紧张素受体亚型的细胞，并将其暴露于一系列生长因子中。每一种生长因子都可能引起神经元反应。Weyhenmeyer博士将确定不同的生长因子如何与不同的受体亚型相互作用，以诱导不同的神经元反应，如增殖、存活、分化和神经突延伸。了解单个血管紧张素受体亚型如何在细胞水平上调节它们的活性，不仅可以为它们在控制重要生理行为（如血压和口渴）中的作用提供重要的见解，而且还可以在复杂的大脑发育领域开辟新的视角，也许还有细胞再生。＊＊＊

9320158 Weyhenmeyer Angiotensin is a small protein hormone that is important in regulating cardiovascular, renal, endocrine, and nervous system activities. Although angiotensin is principally known for its role in the regulation of blood pressure and thirst, there is now evidence indicating that this protein is involved in variety of central nervous system processes, including cell to cell transmission, learning and memory, and cell growth and development. The recent identification of multiple types of angiotensin binding proteins or receptors have led to the suggestion that functional specificity may reside at the level of individual receptor subtypes. Dr. Weyhenmeyer will identify the cellular and molecular features of individual angiotensin receptor subtypes to determine which of these receptors are specifically involved in the growth and development of nerve cells. to accomplish this, he will grow cells in culture that express different angiotensin receptor subtypes and expose them to a battery of growth factors. Each of growth factors is likely to cause a neuronal response. Dr. Weyhenmeyer will determine how the different growth factors interact with the different receptor subtypes to induce distinct neuronal responses such as proliferation, survival, differentiation and neurite extension. Understanding how individual angiotensin receptor subtypes mediate their activity at the level of the cell should not only provide important insights into their role in controlling important physiological behaviors such as blood pressure and thirst but may also open new perspectives in the complex field of brain development, and perhaps, cell regeneration. ***