(Pro)renin receptor: Pathological role and therapeutic potential in primary hypertension

Renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is known to be a regulator of blood pressure, volume homeostasis, and cardiovascular growth and remodeling, but is still incompletely understood. Tissue RAS plays important roles in development of target-organ damages in pathological states such as hypertension and diabetes. The pathophysiological roles of (pro)renin receptor [(P)RR] have been growing concern. (P)RR binds renin and prorenin, with two important consequences, nonproteolytic activation of prorenin and the intracellular signalings. In this article, we attempt to elucidate the possible pathophysiological roles of the (P)RR and the therapeutic potential in primary hypertension, through reviewing studies on animal models of hypertension, transgenic rats overexpressing (P)RR and genetic analysis in humans.