[Effects of angiotensin ii on vascular remodeling]

Classically the AT1 receptors to angiotensin II are considered to be present on the smooth muscle cell membrane in the arterial wall, in which they diffusely regulate peripheral resistances. They are also present on numerous other cell types, including fibroblasts and myofibroblasts, monocytes and macrophages, endothelial cells, where they participate to the phenotypic modulation of the cell, involved in their activation leading to tissular remodeling. The intra-cellular pathway involving the phospholipase C activation and the mobilization of intra-cellular calcium is predominantly involved in the functional vasomotor response to angiotensin II. In contrast the intra-cellular signaling pathway leading to production of oxygen free radicals and activation of the NF-kappa-B system is probably mainly involved in the phenotypic modulation of target cells and their consequences on the vascular tissue remodeling.