ET-traps: Potential therapeutics for preeclampsia.

ABSTRACT

Elevated endothelin-1 (ET-1) has been implicated in several diseases including preeclampsia, where it causes the induction of hypertension, oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress, microvascular dysfunction and tissue damage in different organs. ET-traps are Fc-fusion proteins with a design based on the physiological receptors of ET-1. This paper discusses the potential use of ET-traps as a therapeutic for preeclampsia. ET-traps potently bind and sequester pathologically elevated ET-1 to significantly reduce different markers of pathology to non-disease levels with no toxicity.