Structure of human endothelin-2 gene and demonstration of common expression in human right atrial tissue

The endothelins (ET) are a group of three vasoactive peptides also known to be involved in vascular remodeling. ET1 is the most extensively studied, but recent evidence has highlighted the role of the little investigated ET2 gene as a potential candidate gene in regulating blood pressure. To allow the future role of this gene to be studied the structure of human ET2 was characterized and intron/exon boundaries were determined. With this structural information and using reverse-transcriptase PCR technology we show that the ET2 gene is commonly expressed in human right atrial tissue. This work will allow a more detailed assessment of the role of this physiologically important gene in human essential hypertension.