Target: |
Phosphodiesterases (PDEs) regulate the intracellular levels of cAMP and cGMP. These cyclic nucleotides play an important role as second messengers in multiple physiologic processes, including regulation of vascular resistance, cardiac output, visceral motility, immune response, inflammation, neuroplasticity, vision, and reproduction. PDEs comprise a large superfamily of enzymes divided into 10 families. Different PDEs can be distinguished by their structure, tissue expression, localization, substrate specificity, regulation, and sensitivity to PDE inhibitors. Diversity in structure and specificity of function make PDEs promising targets for the pharmacotherapy of diseases modulated by cyclic nucleotide signaling (Hetman et al., MIM 2000). See MIM 171885. |