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Angiotensin-converting enzyme, or ACE, is a central component of the renin–angiotensin system (RAS), which controls blood pressure by regulating the volume of fluids in the body. It converts the hormone angiotensin I to the active vasoconstrictor angiotensin II. Therefore, ACE indirectly increases blood pressure by causing blood vessels to constrict. ACE inhibitors are widely used as pharmaceutical drugs for treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Other lesser known functions of ACE are degradation of bradykinin, substance P and amyloid beta-protein.

There are at least four known endothelin receptors, ETA, ETB1, ETB2 and ETC, all of which are G protein-coupled receptors whose activation result in elevation of intracellular-free calcium, which constricts the smooth muscles of the blood vessels, raising blood pressure, or relaxes the smooth muscles of the blood vessels, lowering blood pressure, among other functions.

HMG-CoA reductase (3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase, officially abbreviated HMGCR) is the rate-controlling enzyme (NADH-dependent, ; NADPH-dependent,) of the mevalonate pathway, the metabolic pathway that produces cholesterol and other isoprenoids. Normally in mammalian cells this enzyme is suppressed by cholesterol derived from the internalization and degradation of low density lipoprotein (LDL) via the LDL receptor as well as oxidized species of cholesterol. Competitive inhibitors of the reductase induce the expression of LDL receptors in the liver, which in turn increases the catabolism of plasma LDL and lowers the plasma concentration of cholesterol, which is considered, by those who accept the standard lipid hypothesis, an important determinant of atherosclerosis. This enzyme is thus the target of the widely available cholesterol-lowering drugs known collectively as the statins.HMG-CoA reductase is anchored in the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum, and was long regarded as having seven transmembrane domains, with the active site located in a long carboxyl terminal domain in the cytosol. More recent evidence shows it to contain eight transmembrane domains.

A calcium channel is an ion channel which shows selective permeability to calcium ions. It is sometimes synonymous with voltage-gated calcium channel, although there are also ligand-gated calcium channels.

Platelets stop bleeding from damaged blood vessels and initiate repair processes In platelets, adhesion refers to the attachment of platelets to subendothelium or to other cells, while platelet-platelet “adhesion” is called aggregation to differentiate these processes clearly.

Nitric oxide synthases(NOSs) are a family of enzymes catalyzing the production of nitric oxide (NO) from L-arginine. NO is an important cellular signaling molecule. It helps modulate vascular tone, insulin secretion, airway tone, and peristalsis, and is involved in angiogenesis and neural development. It may function as a retrograde neurotransmitter. Nitric oxide is mediated in mammals by the calcium-calmodulin controlled isoenzymes eNOS (endothelial NOS) and nNOS (neuronal NOS).

VEGF receptors are receptors for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). There are three main subtypes of VEGFR, numbered 1, 2 and 3. Also, they may be membrane-bound (mbVEGFR) or soluble (sVEGFR), depending on alternative splicing.

The renin–angiotensin system (RAS), or renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS), is a hormone system that regulates blood pressure and fluid and electrolyte balance, as well as systemic vascular resistance.

A phosphodiesterase (PDE) is an enzyme that breaks a phosphodiester bond. Usually, phosphodiesterase refers to cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases, which have great clinical significance and are described below. However, there are many other families of phosphodiesterases, including phospholipases C and D, autotaxin, sphingomyelin phosphodiesterase, DNases, RNases, and restriction endonucleases (which all break the phosphodiester backbone of DNA or RNA), as well as numerous less-well-characterized small-molecule phosphodiesterases.The cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases comprise a group of enzymes that degrade the phosphodiester bond in the second messenger molecules cAMP and cGMP. They regulate the localization, duration, and amplitude of cyclic nucleotide signaling within subcellular domains. PDEs are therefore important regulators of signal transduction mediated by these second messenger molecules.

The adrenergic receptors or adrenoceptors are a class of G protein-coupled receptors that are targets of many catecholamines like norepinephrine (noradrenaline) and epinephrine (adrenaline) produced by the body, but also many medications like beta blockers, β2 agonists and α2 agonists, which are used to treat high blood pressure and asthma, for example.

Sodium-dependent glucose cotransporters (or sodium-glucose linked transporter, SGLT) are a family of glucose transporter found in the intestinal mucosa (enterocytes) of the small intestine (SGLT1) and the proximal tubule of the nephron (SGLT2 in PCT and SGLT1 in PST). They contribute to renal glucose reabsorption. In the kidneys, 100% of the filtered glucose in the glomerulus has to be reabsorbed along the nephron (98% in PCT, via SGLT2). If the plasma glucose concentration is too high (hyperglycemia), glucose is excreted in urine (glucosuria) because SGLT are saturated with the filtered glucose. Glucose is never secreted by a healthy nephron.

Potassium Channels. K+ channels are membrane proteins that allow rapid and selective flow of K+ ions across the cell membrane, and thus generate electrical signals in cells. Voltage-gated K+ channels (Kv channels), present in all animal cells, open and close upon changes in the transmembrane potential.