Person:
Pérez Vizcaíno, Francisco

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First Name
Francisco
Last Name
Pérez Vizcaíno
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/79680
Affiliation
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Faculty / Institute
Medicina
Department
Farmacología y Toxicología
Area
Farmacología
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Start date: 2020 × Subject: 577.16 ×

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    Vitamin D Receptor Deficiency Upregulates Pulmonary Artery Kv7 Channel Activity
    (International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2023) Olivencia Plaza, Miguel Ángel; Villegas Esguevillas, Marta; Sancho González, María; Barreira, Bianca; Paternoster, Elena; Adão, Rui; Larriba, María Jesús; Cogolludo Torralba, Ángel Luis; Pérez Vizcaíno, Francisco
    Recent evidence suggests that vitamin D is involved in the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The aim of this study was to analyze the electrophysiological and contractile properties of pulmonary arteries (PAs) in vitamin D receptor knockout mice (Vdr−/−). PAs were dissected and mounted in a wire myograph. Potassium membrane currents were recorded in freshly isolated PA smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) using the conventional whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique. Potential vitamin D response elements (VDREs) in Kv7 channels coding genes were studied, and their protein expression was analyzed. Vdr−/− mice did not show a pulmonary hypertensive phenotype, as neither right ventricular hypertrophy nor endothelial dysfunction was apparent. However, resistance PA from these mice exhibited increased response to retigabine, a Kv7 activator, compared to controls and heterozygous mice. Furthermore, the current sensitive to XE991, a Kv7 inhibitor, was also higher in PASMCs from knockout mice. A possible VDRE was found in the gene coding for KCNE4, the regulatory subunit of Kv7.4. Accordingly, Vdr−/− mice showed an increased expression of KCNE4 in the lungs, with no changes in Kv7.1 and Kv7.4. These results indicate that the absence of Vdr in mice, as occurred with vitamin D deficient rats, is not sufficient to induce PAH. However, the contribution of Kv7 channel currents to the regulation of PA tone is increased in Vdr−/− mice, resembling animals and humans suffering from PAH.