A Study Of Urocortin's Role In Regulating Angiotensin-converting Enzyme In Rats

As a new member of the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) peptide family, Urocortin (Ucn) has been demonstrated to show protective effect on cardiovascular system since it was isolated. However, the mechanisms involved in the effects of Ucn are still under debate.Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) plays a pivotal role in the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) by producing the peptide angiotensin II (Ang II) from its inactive precursor angiotensin I (Ang I) and degrading bradykinin (BK).The objective of present study is to investigate the relationship between Ucn and ACE in rats.Present study can be divided into three parts:1. Effects of acute administration of Ucn on ACE activity and ACE expression in Sprague-Dawley (SD) ratsUcn was administered intravenously via tail vein by bolus. One hour after the administration, blood samples were obtained from the thoracic aortas for the determination of serum ACE activity. Meanwhile, lungs and thoracic aortas were harvested to analyze tissue ACE activity and tissue ACE mRNA...