Matteo Ottolini (Pharmacology Graduate Student in Dr. Swapnil Sonkusare’s Lab) is first author of an exciting paper recently published in Circulation. In this paper, Matteo and colleagues in the Sonkusare Lab show novel pathological signaling microdomains that contribute to high blood pressure in obesity. These microdomains in endothelial cells show increased formation of the oxidant molecule peroxynitrite, which reduces TRPV4 channel activity and increases blood pressure. Matteo and colleagues also show that lowering peroxynitrite levels might represent a strategy for normalizing endothelial TRPV4 channel activity and blood pressure in obesity.
The publication, titled “Local Peroxynitrite Impairs Endothelial TRPV4 Channels and Elevates Blood Pressure in Obesity” helps to identify the cellular mechanisms of obesity-induced endothelial dysfunction with the hope it will lead to new therapeutic strategies that offer the promise of improved global health.
Way to go Matteo and Dr. Sonkusare!