SCIENTISTS RESTORE LOST PROTEIN TO REVERSE LUNG DISEASE IN PRECLINICAL MODELS

BLACKSBURG, Va., July 30 -- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University issued the following news release:

Researchers at theFralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTChave identified a natural protective protein that maintains healthy lung blood vessels. Increasing the expression of this protein in preclinical models of pulmonary arterial hypertension reversed key features of the disease, including pulmonary vascular remodeling and heart dysfunction.

The study in the European Respiratory Journalfound that levels of bone morphogenetic protein 3, or BMP3, are significantly reduced in pulmonary arterial hypertension, a rare and progressive disease that causes elevated blood pressure in the lungs and can lead to heart failure.

Resea...