Grant: Project Grant

Pulmonary hypertension is a deadly disease caused by the remodelling of the lung blood vessels, resulting in decreased blood perfusion and poor oxygenation of the body. To compensate, the right side of the heart pumps the blood with more power, but this quickly exhausts the patient. There is currently no curative treatment and life expectancy is limited. We have identified a potential new target in this disease: a mechanism known as mitosis. Mitosis is responsible for the uncontrolled multiplication of cells in the vessel walls, leading to obstruction. We have observed that the protein AURORA is over-expressed in pulmonary hypertensive cells, and that it helps the diseased cells to proliferate. We have also found that this protein is inactive in healthy cells, which suggests that its inhibition should not affect normal cells. Our research has resulted in a wealth of data supporting our hypothesis, demonstrating the efficacy of therapeutic intervention in both cultured cells from pulmonary hypertensive patients and in animal models. In conclusion, targeting mitosis progression of the cells in pulmonary hypertension by inhibiting the disease-specific mechanism of AURORA is a novel and safe way to improve this deadly disease.