Plasma hemopexin as a potential regulator of vascular responsiveness to angiotensin II

Winston W Bakker1, Floor Spaans, Loubna el Bakkali

  • 1Department of Pathology and Medical Biology, University Medical Center Groningen and University of Groningen, The Netherlands. w.w.bakker@umcg.nl

This brief review focuses on the functional activities of plasma hemopexin recently recognized by several authors. In particular, the protease-like activity of hemopexin in vitro is linked with downregulation of the vascular angiotensin II receptor in vivo, leading to vascular expansion. Also a potential mechanism of inhibition of hemopexin activity by extracellular adenosine triphosphate is considered.

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