Protein kinase G, oxidants and high blood pressure

Protein kinase G oxidation in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease

High blood pressure, or hypertension, puts a strain on the arteries and the heart. As high blood pressure often has no obvious symptoms, many people do not know they have the condition until their blood pressure is measured in a doctor’s surgery. If it is not treated, hypertension increases the risk of a person suffering a heart attack, stroke or developing kidney disease. Protein kinase G (PKG) is an enzyme that works with a substance called nitric oxide to reduce blood pressure. Professor Philip Eaton and his team at King’s College London recently found that a particular type of PKG can control blood pressure independently of nitric oxide, and can be activated by potentially harmful molecules the body produces, called oxidants. In heart and circulatory disease, there are high levels of oxidants and low levels of nitric oxide. Professor Eaton believes that, in these circumstances, over-activation of the special form of PKG exacerbates disease. His team have generated a mouse model with a PKG that is slightly different, so it cannot be activated by oxidants. They will compare how the blood pressure and heart function of mice with altered PKG responds to conditions like obesity or lack of nitric oxide, compared to normal mice. Their initial work suggests that the heart and blood vessels from mice with altered PKG may be protected from injury during disease. They will then try to understand how PKG causes injury when it is over-activated by oxidants. Understanding how these protective mechanisms work will help develop future treatments.