Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is thought to be a prominent neuropeptide in cardiovascular regulation and neuroimmune modulation. There are two isoforms of CGRP (␣CGRP and CGRP), and the main CGRP receptors are probably composed of a calcitonin receptor-like receptor (CLR) and a receptor activity-modifying protein (RAMP)1. However, the physiological functions of CGRP that are mediated through the CLR/RAMP1 receptors remain to be clarified. For an improved understanding of the functions, we generated mice deficient in RAMP1, a specific subunit of CGRP receptors, by a conditional gene-targeting technique. The RAMP1-deficient mice (RAMP1 ؊/؊ ) exhibited high blood pressure, with no changes in heart rate. ␣CGRP was found to have a potent vascular relaxant activity compared with CGRP in the artery of the WT (RAMP1 ؉/؉ ) mice. The activities of both CGRP isoforms were remarkably suppressed in the arteries of the RAMP1 ؊/؊ mice. The LPS-induced inflammatory responses of the RAMP1 ؊/؊ mice revealed a transient and significant increase in the serum CGRP levels and high serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines compared with the RAMP1 ؉/؉ mice. ␣CGRP and CGRP equally suppressed the production of TNF-␣ and IL-12 in bone marrow-derived dendritic cells stimulated with lipopolysaccharide. Their inhibitory effects were not observed in the bone marrow-derived dendritic cells of the RAMP1 ؊/؊ mice. These results indicate that CGRP signaling through CLR/RAMP1 receptors plays a crucial role in the regulation of both blood pressure by vascular relaxation and proinflammatory cytokine production from dendritic cells.gene-disrupted mice ͉ calcitonin gene-related peptide ͉ adrenomedullin ͉ neuropeptide ͉ dendritic cells C alcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a 37-aa neuropeptide that is produced in the neural body of dorsal root ganglion cells and released from sensory nerve endings. There are two isoforms of CGRP: ␣ and  in rats and mice and I and II in humans. These differ in their peptide sequences by 1 aa (rats) and 3 aa (mice and humans) of the 37 aa (1). ␣CGRP is produced mainly in the nervous system by the tissue-specific alternative splicing of the primary RNA transcript of the calcitonin/CGRP gene. On the other hand, CGRP is produced not only in the neuronal tissues but also in the enteric nerves of the intestine (2) and in immune cells such as T cells (3). Pharmacologically, ␣CGRP is known to have the most potent vasodilatory activity (4). Most blood vessels are surrounded by a dense perivascular CGRPergic neural network, suggesting the physiological importance of CGRP in vasodilatory regulation (5). ␣CGRP also contributes to local neurogenic inflammation and nociception (6). Moreover, the functions of immune cells such as macrophages (7,8), Langerhans cells (8), and T cells (9, 10) are modulated by ␣CGRP. However, the precise functional differences between ␣CGRP and CGRP remain unclear.Historically, CGRP receptors have been classified into two classes: CGRP 1 and CGRP 2 receptors. The CGRP 1 receptors are m...