Gene:
endothelin receptor type B
Description:
Endothelin receptor type B is a G protein-coupled receptor which activates a phosphatidylinoitol-calcium second messenger system. Its ligand, endothelin, consists of a family of three potent vasoactive peptides: ET1, ET2, and ET3. Studies suggest that the multigenic disorder, Hirschsprung disease type 2, is due to mutation in endothelin receptor type B gene. A splice variant, named SVR, has been described; the sequence of the ETB-SVR receptor is identical to ETRB except for the intracellular C-terminal domain. While both splice variants bind ET1, they exhibit different responses upon binding which suggests that they may be functionally distinct.