Molecular cloning of a novel kinin-forming enzyme and its tissue expression in the human cardiovascular organ

2002 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 13670774
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Circulatory organs internal medicine
• Research Institution: Fukuoka Dental College (2002); Fukuoka College of Health Sciences (2001)
• Principal Investigator: NAKAHIMA Yoshiyuki Fukuoka Dental College, Dentistry, Professor, 歯学部, 教授 (70078749)
• Project Period (FY): 2001 – 2002
• Keywords: Kallikrein / Kinin / cloning / human tissues

Research Abstract

Abstract
We previously purified a novel kallikrein-like enzyme from the dog heart and demonstrated that it is not only able to form kinins but can also convert angiotensin (Ang) I to Ang II. To clarity whether this novel kallikrein-like enzyme is present in human tissue, we tried to clone this enzyme. In the present study, we have subcloned a kallikrein gene from the human heart and neutrophil cDNA library by using degenerate oligonucleotide and nested PCR amplification. The transcript is identical with the partial sequence of a human renal kallikrein gene. So far, we have not cloned a kallikrein gene from the human heart and neutrophil cDNA library by using this transcript as a target DNA. These results suggest that a tissue kallikrein exerts a variety of biological effects not only in renal tissue, but also human heart and neutrophils. However, it remains unresolved whether this enzyme is novel.