Endothelin-1 and Angiotensin II Receptors in Cells From Rat Hypertrophied Heart

Abstract
This study investigates the cellular localization and regulation of endothelin-1 (ET-1) and angiotensin II (Ang II) receptors and the effects of ET-1 and Ang II on [Ca2+]i in cardiac hypertrophy due to volume overload in the rat. Radioligand binding assays and [Ca2+]i measurements by fura 2 methodology were performed on isolated ventricular cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts from the heart of rats with a 4-week aortocaval shunt. In the hypertrophied myocardium, ET-1 and Ang II concentrations were unchanged in ventricles. Ventricular ET-1 receptors had a cell-specific distribution: >90% of ET receptors in cardiomyocytes are of the ETA subtype, whereas fibroblasts had a nearly equal proportion of the ETA and ETB subtypes. ET-1 receptor densities, affinities, and ET-1–induced [Ca2+]i were not significantly different from control in both ventricular cell types from hypertrophied myocardium. Ang II specific binding was very low on isolated ventricular cardiomyocytes, suggesting few receptors in control co...