Ananya Chakraborty, Abinaya Nathan, Mark Orcholski, Stuti Agarwal, Elya A Shamskhou, Natasha Auer, Ankita Mitra, Eleana Stephanie Guardado, Gowri Swaminathan, David F Condon, Joyce Yu, Matthew McCarra, Nicholas H Juul, Alden Mallory, Roberto A Guzman-Hernandez, Ke Yuan, Vanesa Rojas, Joseph T Crossno, Lai-Ming Yung, Paul B Yu, Thomas Spencer, Robert A Winn, Andrea Frump, Vijaya Karoor, Tim Lahm, Haley Hedlin, Jeffrey R Fineman, Robert Lafyatis, Carsten N F Knutsen, Cristina M Alvira, David N Cornfield, Vinicio A de Jesus Perez
INTRODUCTION: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by loss of microvessels. The Wnt pathways control pulmonary angiogenesis, but their role in PAH is incompletely understood. We hypothesized that Wnt activation in pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (PMVECs) is required for pulmonary angiogenesis, and its loss contributes to PAH. METHODS: Lung tissue and PMVECs from healthy and PAH patients were screened for Wnt production. Global and endothelial-specific Wnt7a-/- mice were generated and exposed to chronic hypoxia and Sugen-hypoxia (SuHx)...
April 6, 2023: European Respiratory Journal