Autoregulation of endothelin-1 secretion by cultured human keratinocytes via the endothelin B receptor

We investigated endothelin-1 (ET-1) receptor expression on normal human keratinocytes (HK). We show that HK express the ETB receptor isoform and respond to ET-1 with a 2.7-fold increase in intracellular free calcium. HK did not respond to ET-1 with increased proliferation; however, 30 nM ET-1 caused a 51.7% decrease in ET-1 accumulation in HK-conditioned medium. We propose that HK ET-1 receptors function in autocrine regulation of ET-1 secretion.