Urotensin II (IPR001483)

Short name: Urotensin_II

Overlapping homologous superfamilies


Family relationships



Urotensin II (UII) is a vasoactive somatostatin-like or cortistatin-like peptide hormone. However, despite the apparent structural similarity to these peptide hormones, they are not homologous to UII. Urotensin II was first identified in fish spinal cord but later found in humans and other mammals [PMID: 10499587]. In fish, UII is secreted at the back part of the spinal cord, in a neurosecretory centre called uroneurapophysa, and is involved in the regulation of the renal and cardiovascular systems [PMID: 3724202]. In mammals, urotensin II is the most potent mammalian vasoconstrictor identified to date and causes contraction of arterial blood vessels, including the thoracic aorta [PMID: 10499587, PMID: 11020490, PMID: 15102493].

This entry represents urotensin II.

GO terms

Biological Process

GO:0008217 regulation of blood pressure
GO:0097746 regulation of blood vessel diameter

Molecular Function

GO:0005179 hormone activity

Cellular Component

GO:0005576 extracellular region

Contributing signatures

Signatures from InterPro member databases are used to construct an entry.
PROSITE patterns