Is the renal natriuretic peptide urodilatin present in human kidney?
Our data suggest that urodilatin may be the predominant representative of natriuretic peptides in human kidneys. Urodilatin being synthesized in the distal tubular region may be transported as a paracrine factor to the collecting duct, where it exerts its suppressing effect on the sodium reabsorption by stimulating the guanylyl cyclase A.
HIV-1-infected cells may gain a survival advantage by activating DcR3, which prevents infected cell detection by the host immune system. These data indicate that the sDcR3 level is a biomarker for AIDS disease progression.