Could targeting CLIC4 treat pulmonary arterial hypertension?

Role of endothelial clic4 in the regulation of pulmonary vascular remodelling in pulmonary hypertension

Dr Beata Wojciak Stothard and her team at Imperial College London are looking for new ways to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a serious condition where high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs leads to low oxygen levels and heart failure. In PAH, there is uncontrolled cell growth within the lung’s bloods vessels, causing narrowing of these vessels. Current treatments relieve the symptoms but many people still die within a few years of diagnosis. Dr Wojciak Stothard has found that levels of a protein, called CLIC4, are high in the blood of people with PAH. CLIC4 levels are also high in the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels supplying the lungs of animals with PAH. CLIC4 is involved in several processes that can lead to the narrowing of blood vessels, including inflammation. Dr Wojciak Stothard believes that blocking CLIC4 in endothelial cells could prevent PAH from developing. To test this theory, she will genetically remove CLIC4 from lung endothelial cells in mice to see if this prevents the PAH. This study will confirm how CLIC4 controls inflammatory responses in lung endothelial cells and if targeting endothelial CLIC4 could be a potential new way to treat pulmonary hypertension.