How do prostanoids work to treat pulmonary hypertension?

Prostanoid-mediated Inhibition of IL-6 trans-signalling in pulmonary arterial hypertension; a role for epac1-mediated induction of "Suppressor of Cytokine Signalling 3" (SOCS3) (Ms Gillian Durham)

Supervised by Professor Timothy Palmer, a PhD student is working out how a class of drugs called prostanoids could help people with pulmonary arterial hypertension, or PAH, live longer. PAH is a disease where lung artery walls become progressively more inflamed, before getting thicker and narrower. People experience symptoms of breathlessness and chest pain, and most die within a few years from heart failure. Most current PAH treatments only relieve symptoms, but some, including prostanoids, offer hope. While we know that prostanoids increase levels of an important chemical within the cell called cyclic AMP, it is not clear how exactly that affect can help to treat PAH. Professor Palmer has found cyclic AMP blocks inflammation by increasing levels of a protein called SOCS3. He believes that prostanoids work to improve PAH by reducing inflammation in lung arteries, and they do that by increasing SOCS3. In this project, the student will find out if this is true. They will assess how important SOCS3 is for prostanoid drugs to control blood vessel cells in PAH, and work out how it works. They will also test what effect prostanoid drugs have on PAH development in an animal model of the disease. This research will reveal how prostanoid drugs currently used to treat PAH actually work. It will also identify targets for new drugs to halt inflammation in people with PAH.