Expression of the endothelin-converting enzyme gene in human tissues.

Based on the cDNA sequence of the human and bovine endothelin converting enzyme (ECE-1) we have developed a novel reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction to investigate the tissue expression of this gene. We were able to specifically detect the gene mRNA starting from very limited amount of tissue in all human as well as bovine tissues examined. Thus, our results confirm a widespread expression of the ECE-1 gene in human tissues, in keeping with the findings in other species, and suggest a major biological role of ECE-1.