New drug target discovered for potential blood pressure treatment

Scientists have identified a key player in blood pressure regulation and have shown that switching it off reduces blood pressure in mice, according to new research in eLife. Their study ends much uncertainty about the contribution this molecule makes to high blood pressure and could lead to the development of new drugs. High blood pressure affects millions worldwide and is a leading cause of heart attack and stroke. Blood pressure is controlled, in part, by muscle cells that line the wall of arteries. These muscle cells have proteins called Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channels on their surface that allow sodium and calcium to move through. Around 13 different TRP channels are present on arterial muscle cells, but it is unclear if they control normal blood pressure or contribute to high blood pressure.
"The contribution of TRP channels to normal blood pressure and to changes in blood pressure are unclear, and we don't know whether the different channel types in different organs are controlled in a similar way," explains senior author Jonathan Jaggar, Bronstein Endowed Professor of Physiology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, US. "We chose to study a TRP channel called PKD2 because patients with genetic mutations in this protein have high blood pressure and previous research has shown conflicting results regarding its functions in arterial muscle cells."