Sachin Gupte, M.D., Ph.D., Awarded $2.7 Million NIH Grant to Develop Treatments for Vascular Disease
Research Will Focus On Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), PAH-induced Heart Failure And Metabolic Syndrome-associated Coronary Artery Disease
Sachin Gupte, M.D., Ph.D., professor of pharmacology, received a $2,773,836, four-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop new personalized treatments to reduce vascular disease. “Vascular diseases continue to be a major cause of death in the U.S. and worldwide,” said Dr. Gupte. “The goal of our research is to develop new therapies for three human diseases – pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), PAH-induced heart failure and metabolic syndrome-associated coronary artery disease (MS-CAD).”
The Gupte laboratory has recently discovered that two isoenzymes of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) are expressed in the vascular smooth muscle (VSM) and that G6PD-derived NADPH (pyridine nucleotide) signaling plays a role in mediating VSM contraction and switching VSM cell from contractile to synthetic phenotype.
The grant proposes to determine potential mechanisms, driven by a newly discovered G6PD isoform in the nucleus of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), that contribute to pathogenic large artery stiffness and remodeling.
“We anticipate the results of this project will reveal the direct link between G6PD and gene expression that contribute to vascular pathology and expose mechanisms for disparate vascular disease outcomes observed in different ethnic groups around the world,” said Dr. Gupte.