Investigating how the blood vessel lining copes with high blood pressure

The role of aquaporins in determining the water barrier in coronary arteries

The inner lining cells of the blood vessel, called endothelial cells, acts as a barrier that controls the movement of fluid (including water) and other molecules from the blood and across the vessel wall. To maintain blood pressure and flow, our blood vessels have to be watertight. Increase in the permeability of this endothelial cell barrier to water is often observed in heart and circulatory disease, including high blood pressure. Professor Dora and her team have discovered that only the outside layer of the endothelial cells is water tight. Water can get in the cells thanks to molecules called aquaporin that are present exclusively on the inner surface of the endothelial cells. They think it allows the pressure within these cells to reach the same level as the blood’s pressure, so that the cells don’t get squashed and damaged. In this project, the team wants to test this hypothesis and investigate the role of aquaporin in blood vessels. This will increase our understanding of the biology of blood vessels and could identify novel targets for future therapy against high blood pressure.