Hypertension in mice investigated, role of corin clarified.

The article reports that recent research from the United States published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America has reported on hypertension in mice lacking the proatrial natriuretic peptide convertase corin. Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) is a cardiac hormone that regulates blood pressure. In cardiomyocytes, the hormone is synthesized as a precursor, proatrial natriuretic peptide (pro-ANP), which is proteolytically converted to active ANP. Corin is a cardiac transmembrane serine protease that has been shown to process pro-ANP in vitro, but its physiological importance had not been established.