Genetics and cardiovascular system: influence of human genetic variants on vascular function

Candidate gene association studies in cardiovascular diseases have provided evidence on the molecular basis of phenotypic differences between individuals. The comprehension of how inherited genetic variants are able to affect protein functions has increased the knowledge of how genes interact with environment in order to modulate a particular phenotype. Although it is known that the human genome contains more than 10 million SNPs, only a minor part of them are supposed to be functional. A causative SNP in a particular gene may confer a small to moderate effect in complex phenotypes, such as functions important to cardiovascular homeostasis. This paper is a selective review of the literature on the evidence for interactions between vascular function and naturally occurring genetic variants in endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and beta-2 adrenergic receptor (ADRB2), two genes among those influencing vascular phenotype and examples for which there is a strong evidence base. eNOS and ADRB2 will be characterized, as well as the mechanisms by which the enzyme and the receptor work to control vascular responses will be described. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying gene-mediated vascular function and their modification by genetic variants is expected to result in a better comprehension about individual's phenotypic differences.