Studying BMP9, a potential therapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension

Role of extracellular protein-protein interaction network in determining the specificity of endothelial bone morphogenetic protein signalling

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare but devastating condition, for which effective treatments are urgently needed. In PAH, the blood pressure in the arteries supplying the lungs is very high. This puts a strain on the right side of the heart and many people die from heart failure within a few years of a PAH diagnosis. Current medicines go some way to alleviating the symptoms of PAH, but none exist yet to tackle the underlying cause. DNA analysis of people with PAH shows that in many cases the disease appears to be caused by faulty molecular signals in the endothelium – the lining of blood vessels. The faults centre around components of a signalling pathway called BMP, which has many roles within the body. Researchers have shown that they can cure PAH in mice by treating them with a molecule called BMP9, part of the BMP signalling pathway. But BMP9 has several jobs in the body, and interacts with many molecules as it carries out these tasks. In this project the team will investigate all these interactions, shedding light on how we could harness BMP9 to treat PAH, without disrupting its other effects. Professor Li and her team are leading experts in PAH, and they believe that BMP9 has the potential to be a revolutionary therapy for this devastating disease.