Expression of components of the kallikrein-kinin system in human cell lines

Components of the kallikrein-kinin system (KKS) have been shown to be synthesized in many tissues and cells, however, a systematic investigation on which of the KKS components are expressed in the various human tissues and cells and how their expression is regulated is not yet available. As a first step towards such a study we developed highly sensitive and specific reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) procedures for detecting mRNA expression of tissue kallikrein, high and low molecular weight kininogens, and kinin receptors B1 and B2. Analyses of a variety of human fibroblast and epithelial cell lines showed that they differ significantly in their individual expression profiles of KKS components indicating that the KKS participates in specific and diverse ways in the regulation of cellular functions. The RT-PCR procedures described here permit differentiation of cell lines and tissues according to their expression profiles of mRNAs of KKS components and thus provide a valuable means for selecting appropriate cells for studies on the functional significance of the KKS and its single components.