Cellular mechanism of hormone action in the kidney: Messenger function of calcium and cyclic AMP

Abstract

Within the past 3 to 4 years there has been considerable progress in defining the more intimate details by which events within these two messenger systems are interrelated, particularly those dealing with calcium. Much of this new knowledge has been gained from studies of hormone action in tissues other than the kidney. Yet, if one agrees with the authors that mammalian cells are more alike than unlike, then the knowledge gained from studies of angiotensin II action in liver, adrenal glomerulosa, and smooth muscle cells is directly relevant to the action of this hormone on proximal tubular function particularly since, in the other three tissues, the basic mechanism by which this hormone acts appears to be the same. Likewise, studies of the action of ACTH on adrenal glomerulosa cells may well be relevant to those of PTH on nephron segments. Thus, rather than review in detail the actions of angiotensin II, PTH, and vasopressin on the renal tubule as has been done quite recently by others this review will summarize data obtained largely from studies in other tissues and then consider the actions of kidney hormones in the light of these data and the models of cell activation constructed from them.