Downregulation of C-receptor by natriuretic peptides via ANP-B receptor in vascular smooth muscle cells.

The natriuretic peptide system comprises at least three ligands, atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) and three receptors, the ANP-A receptor, the ANP-B receptor, and the clearance (C) receptor. In the present study, the regulation of natriuretic peptide receptors by their ligands was investigated in cultured rat vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC). The treatment of vascular SMC with ANP, BNP, or CNP decreased the C-receptor density significantly, and the rank order of potency for this downregulation was CNP > ANP > BNP. This rank order was the same as that for guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP) production by ANP, BNP, or CNP in vascular SMC and also the same as that for the ligand selectivity of the ANP-B receptor rather than the C-receptor. The incubation of vascular SMC with 8-bromoguanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate significantly decreased the C-receptor density and its mRNA expression. These results suggest that the down-regulation of the C-receptor by natriuretic peptides is induced not by the binding of natriuretic peptides to the C-receptor but by the activation of the ANP-B receptor-cGMP pathway.