ABSTRACT
In the last decade a variety of studies have shown that there are two separate renin-angiotensin systems (RAS), the classical RAS that plays a key role in the regulation of blood pressure and fluid and salt balance and the tissue RAS or ‘local angiotensin (Ang) II generating system’. The components are identical except for the cell surface (pro)renin receptors that are probably only involved in the tissue RAS. These receptors may play a crucial role in determining (pro)renin catalytic activity, as well as in their contribution to (pro)renin-specific intracellular signaling and clearance.
