Role of intercellular communication in the control of renin secretion

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Renin plays an important role in the maintenance of blood pressure and renal blood flow. A lot paracrine factors such as neurotransmitters, vasoactive materials, growth factors and cytokines have been shown to be implicated in the control of renin. However, our understanding about the mechanisms of the gap junction-mediated direct intercellular communication in renin secretion is still lacking. Here, we investigated the role of gap junctions in the control of renin production in juxtaglomerular cells. Our results demonstrated that : 1) there are abundant connexins and functional gap junctions in renin-secreting cells ; 2) dysfunction of gap junctions with gap junction blockers stimulated the expression of COX_2, an important signal molecule implicated in the stimulation of renin synthesis and production ; and 3) the opening of gap junction hemichannls under low calcium conditions activated the renin-stimulating cAMP signaling pathway. Our results thus implicate gap junctions as an important regulator of renin secretion and production.