Functional Cooperation Between Smad Proteins and Activator Protein-1 Regulates Transforming Growth Factor-β–Mediated Induction of Endothelin-1 Expression

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a 21-amino-acid potent vasoconstrictor peptide that is mainly produced by vascular endothelial cells. Expression of the ET-1 gene is subject to complex regulation by numerous factors, among which transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) is one of the most important. It has been widely documented that TGF-beta increases ET-1 mRNA and peptide levels. We have explored the mechanism by which TGF-beta upregulates ET-1...