Renalase Functionality in Cardiovascular and Renal Health
Summary
Renalase is a kidney-derived flavoprotein that circulates systemically and regulates cardiovascular and renal homeostasis through both enzymatic degradation of circulating catecholamines and receptor-mediated signalling. Originally characterised as an oxidase that metabolises adrenaline and dopamine precursors to modulate blood pressure, renalase is now recognised to function as a cytokine engaging cell-surface receptors and activating intracellular cascades such as MAPK, PI3K–AKT and JAK–STAT pathways. These dual activities confer protection against ischaemic and toxic injury in cardiac and renal tissues by preserving mitochondrial integrity, reducing oxidative stress, inhibiting apoptosis and tempering inflammatory responses. In chronic kidney disease and hypertension, declining renalase expression and activity correlate with disease severity, suggesting its potential as both a biomarker and a therapeutic target. Moreover, genetic variation in the renalase gene influences susceptibility to hypertensive disorders, underscoring the enzyme’s role at the interface of sympathetic nervous system regulation and organ remodelling. Given the global burden of cardiovascular and renal disease, elucidating renalase biology holds promise for innovative interventions that span from recombinant protein therapy to small-molecule modulators.
Research from Nature Portfolio
No recent Nature Portfolio content available.
Renalase Functionality in Cardiovascular and Renal Health publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in renalase functionality in cardiovascular and renal health across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Renalase: kidney-secreted flavoprotein that modulates blood pressure and tissue protection via enzymatic and signalling mechanisms.
Catecholamines: vasoactive hormones (adrenaline, noradrenaline, dopamine) involved in sympathetic regulation of heart and vessels.
Cytokine: signalling molecule that binds specific receptors to influence cell survival, inflammation and repair.
Mitochondrial dynamics: balance of mitochondrial fusion and fission processes critical for energy production and cellular resilience.
Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP): a single-base genetic variation that can alter protein structure or function, affecting disease susceptibility.
References
- Renalase Lowers Ambulatory Blood Pressure by Metabolizing Circulating Adrenaline. Journal of the American Heart Association (2012).
- Identification of a Receptor for Extracellular Renalase. PLOS ONE (2015).
- Extracellular renalase protects cells and organs by outside‐in signalling. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine (2017).
- The Multi-Faceted Nature of Renalase for Mitochondrial Dysfunction Improvement in Cardiac Disease. Cells (2023).
- Renalase Potential as a Marker and Therapeutic Target in Chronic Kidney Disease. Biomedicines (2024).
- Renalase rs2296545 variant improve hypertension susceptibility by modifying binding affinity to catecholamines in obstructive sleep apnea. Hypertension Research (2024).
About these summaries
This Nature Research Intelligence Topic summary is created with the cited references and a large language model. We take care to ground generated text with facts, and have systems in place to gain human feedback on the overall quality of the process in line with our AI principles. We strive to create accurate and useful summaries for people unfamiliar with the research topic and that supports this goal. These pages are a beta release and will be updated as we learn how best to help people gain value from a research topic summary.
Turn complex research questions into confident strategic decisions
When you're under pressure to set direction, justify investment, or understand your competitive position, you need more than raw data — you need trusted insights you can act on.
Benchmark your performance against global peers using robust, methodologically sound analysis.
Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative expert insight to uncover strengths, gaps and emerging opportunities.
Gain tailored, decision-ready recommendations aligned to your strategic priorities.
Talk to us to learn more about our data dashboards and bespoke strategy reports.
Grow research skills, confidence and careers with training built for every stage of the research lifecycle.
Developed with Nature Portfolio journal Editors and internationally renowned experts. Discover three ways to learn:
Self-paced, online courses in convenient bite-sized units, covering key skills across scientific writing, publishing, grant writing, data analysis, and more.
Expert trainer-led workshops with hands-on exercises and real-time feedback across core research skills, delivered via interactive group sessions.
Editor-led workshops combining core principles in writing and publishing, personalised 1:1 feedback from Nature Portfolio Editors and hands-on exercises.
Explore course catalogues and workshop agendas, enquire about the options or request institutional pricing.