Physiological Functions
- ETA is a subtype for vasoconstriction These receptors are found in the smooth muscle tissue of blood vessels, and binding of endothelin to ETA increases vasoconstriction (contraction of the blood vessel walls) and the retention of sodium, leading to increased blood pressure.
- ETB1 mediates vasdilation, When endothelin binds to ETB1 receptors, this leads to the release of nitric oxide (also called endothelium-derived relaxing factor), natriuresis and diuresis (the production and elimination of urine) and mechanisms that lower blood pressure.
- ETB3 mediates vasoconstriction
- ETC has yet no clearly defined function.
- ET receptor are also found in the nervous system where they may mediate neurotransmission and vascular functions.
Read more about this topic: Endothelin Receptor
Famous quotes containing the word functions:
“Let us stop being afraid. Of our own thoughts, our own minds. Of madness, our own or others’. Stop being afraid of the mind itself, its astonishing functions and fandangos, its complications and simplifications, the wonderful operation of its machinery—more wonderful because it is not machinery at all or predictable.”
—Kate Millett (b. 1934)