Using a ‘pulmonary-artery-on-a-chip’ to test treatments for PAH

Role of Arf6 in endothelial dysfunction in pulmonary arterial hypertension

In pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), narrowing of small arteries in the lung severely restricts oxygen supply to the body. Dr Wojciak-Stothard and her team have identified that a molecule called Arf6 is activated in blood vessel cells from PAH models and is blocking another molecule called BMPR2 which is a key factor in the development of the disease. However, how Arf6 regulates BMPR2 is not entirely understood. In this project, they will further investigate how Arf6 works and how it can be targeted with drugs. The project will also use a tiny recreated pulmonary artery they have developed in the lab. This ‘pulmonary-artery-on-a-chip’ mimics the structure of human lung arteries affected by the disease. They will use it to culture cells from people with PAH to understand how they may respond to various drugs affecting Arf6. This project aims to explore whether target Arf6 with drugs could be used as a potential new treatment for PAH. It will also create a new way to test potential drugs for PAH, while reducing the experimental use of animals.