Exploring the purinergic P2Y2 receptor as a novel target for effective treatment of vascular calcification.

Vascular calcification is a major clinical problem, particularly in elderly and patients suffering from chronic kidney disease and diabetes, and has a significant impact on morbidity and mortality by provoking severe cardiovascular events. Current therapies focus on controlling some of the multiple risk factors and therefore lack efficiency. As such, effective therapies to prevent and stop the rapid progression of vascular calcification in both CKD and diabetic patients are urgently needed.In this project, we aim to investigate a novel treatment strategy that might be able to directly inhibit arterial calcification by intervening in the purinergic signaling pathway. Extracellular nucleotides potently inhibit mineralization by directly activating purinergic P2 receptors. Recent in vitro data have shown that extracellular nucleotides, ATP and UTP, block vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) calcification and one of their receptors, the P2Y2 receptor, is suggested to play a role in the local inhibition of VSMC calcification.A next step in this new research area requires the study of the in vivo role of the P2Y2 receptor in vascular calcification in order to establish new therapeutic targets to prevent or halt the progression of vascular calcification.

Keywords:KNOCK OUT MOUSE, PURINERGIC RECEPTORS, VASCULAR CALCIFICATION

Disciplines:Cardiac and vascular medicine