© 1998 by European Society of Cardiology
Copyright © 1998, European Society of Cardiology
The discovery of endothelins
National Cardiovascular Center, Fujishirodai 5-7-1, Suita, Osaka 565, Japan
Received 18 March 1998; accepted 13 May 1998
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
It is generally accepted that the vascular endothelium is not a simple barrier between the blood stream and vascular bed. It has many functions in the regulation of vascular function that are mediated by various factors released from the endothelium which act on itself or other vascular cells in autocrine and paracrine manners. This concept emerged after the discovery of the endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF) in 1980. The EDRF was later characterized as nitric oxide in 1987. Before the discovery of the EDRF, prostacycline was discovered, which is also a relaxing factor produced by the endothelium. These two relaxing factors are released from endothelial cells in response to a variety of vasoactive substances, and are thought to regulate vascular tone.
In contrast to endothelium-derived relaxing factors, less progress had been made in the field of endothelium-derived constricting factors such as thromboxane, a strong vasoconstrictor which is produced in the endothelium.
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