Purinergic Dysregulation in Pulmonary Hypertension

What role do circulating nucleotides play in the pathobiology of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH)? In this new podcast Associate Editor Robert Hester (University of Mississippi Medical Center) interviews lead author Scott Visovatti (University of Michigan) and content expert Nikki Jernigan (University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center) about the clinically important work by Visovatti and colleagues investigating whether CD39—an extracellular nucleotidase responsible for the dephosphorylation of ATP—could be a key trigger for idiopathic PAH. By first investigating human blood and tissue samples of pulmonary arterial hypertension patients, followed by data from a unique CD39 knockout hypoxic mouse model, Visovatti and co-authors gained valuable insight into the PAH phenotype. What two “rescue approaches” did the authors use to lower right ventricular and pulmonary pressures in the CD39 mouse model? Listen and find out.

Scott H Visovatti, Matthew C Hyman, Sascha N Goonewardena, Anuli C. Anyanwu, Yogendra Kanthi, Patrick Robichaud, Jintao Wang, Danica Petrovic-Djergovic, Rahul Rattan, Charles F. Burant, David J Pinsky Purinergic dysregulation in pulmonary hypertension Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, published May 20, 2016. DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00572.2015