Studying a signalling pathway involved in blood pressure control

Setting the tone: Pressure induced oxidative dimerization of PKG enables Ca2+ spark vasoregulation

Dr Adam Greenstein and his colleagues at the University of Manchester are looking for new ways to treat high blood pressure through a new signalling pathway that they have discovered. The heart pumps blood around the body through blood vessels called arteries. Arteries close to the heart are large and stretchy, whereas further away the arteries fork off into smaller branches. The smallest of these arteries deliver blood containing nutrients and oxygen directly to the body’s organs. Small arteries also squeeze tightly against the pressure of the blood inside them - this collective squeezing of all the small arteries in the body creates the pressure upstream in large arteries, which is measured when blood pressure is taken. But little is known about how or why the arteries squeeze in response to pressure. Dr Greenstein’s team has discovered a new signalling pathway in artery cells. A protein called protein kinase G detects pressure inside the blood vessel and dictates how hard the blood vessel needs to squeeze or relax. In this project, Dr Greenstein will work out the other components of this pathway, and how protein kinase G detects pressure and then relays this signal to the cell. Finding out more about the protein kinase G signalling pathway could reveal a new target for treatment of high blood pressure.