Grant: Project Grant

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a serious condition that increases pressure in the lungs and can lead to heart failure and early death. Traditional thinking blamed narrowed blood vessels, but we now know that abnormal growth of lung cells and too much material between cells play a larger role. Current treatments are not very effective, and the survival rate for new cases is only 55%. In Canada, about 5,000 to 10,000 people have PAH, and treating each person can be costly, ranging from $20,000 to $240,000 a year. We desperately need new ways to treat this disease. In PAH, the walls of the arteries in the lungs change, with muscle cells becoming too active and narrowing the vessels. These cells change their behavior after injury, but we don't fully understand how. This lack of knowledge limits our treatment options. We usually focus on the role of specific molecules in the structural changes in the pulmonary arteries, but we've overlooked the importance of integrins. Integrins are like connectors between cells and their environment. In PAH, some integrins appear to be more active. These integrins are also involved in similar problems in other diseases. This proposal aims to study the role of integrins and understand how they contribute to changes in cell behavior. The goal is to find ways to interfere with this process as a new strategy to treat PAH. The approach is comprehensive, involving different fields of study, and aims to provide practical solutions to this challenging health problem.