Understanding the ‘alter egos’ of BH4, towards new treatments for heart disease

Non-Canonical Roles for Tetrahydrobiopterin in Cardiovascular Disease Pathogenesis

The health of our heart and blood vessels depends upon cells in these tissues producing and responding to an abundance of chemical signals. One chemical factor, called tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), has important roles in heart and circulatory diseases. It was thought this was down to its role in producing a ‘relaxant’ chemical in the cells that line our blood vessels. However, new evidence has come to light that suggests BH4 is even more important than we realised. Recent research has suggested that BH4 has unanticipated roles in unanticipated places, including in heart muscle cells. Now, Professor Keith Channon and his team of researchers in Oxford will delve into these intriguing new insights, to uncover more about BH4’s actions. In mice, they will alter the availability of BH4 in certain cells, and test what effect that has on the workings of those cells. They will also observe if and how it changes the development of heart and circulatory problems in mice, such as heart failure. Understanding BH4’s newly identified functions could provide the basis to harness its effects for future treatments to prevent and treat heart and circulatory diseases.