[Functional role of angiotensin II predicted from the phenotypes of transgenic and knockout mice]

The renin-angiotensin system, composed of enzymatic and signal-transduction cascades, plays a key role in the regulation of arterial blood pressure and in the development of certain forms of experimental and human hypertension. The products of this system, angiotensin peptides, exert a wide range of physiologically important effects on many tissues, including those of the cardiovascular systems, through their actions on angiotensin receptors. Molecular genetic and transgenic studies have begun to implicate some of the genes encoding components of the renin-angiotensin system in the development of cardiovascular diseases. Here, I review new developments related to the functional role of angiotensin II, an important product of the renin-angiotensin system, by focusing on transgenic approaches, including gene targeting.