Researchers from the University of Virginia School of Medicine have discovered the location of natural blood pressure-sensing baroreceptors that had puzzled the experts for more than 60 years. These cellular sensors detect minute variations in blood pressure and modify levels of hormones required to maintain homeostasis. Renin-expressing cells are myoendocrine cells that are essential to survival. In 1957, a scientist proposed that a pressure sensing mechanism controlled renin release and thereby helped maintain blood pressure homeostasis .
High perfusion pressure restricts renin release from renin cells, whereas low perfusion pressure promotes it. However, the location of a baroreceptor , how it works, and how it can help avoid hypertension or hypotension were unknown. Methodology Renin cells were subjected to either low or high arterial pressure in various genetically engineered mice.…
