Inhibition of CHK 1 (Checkpoint Kinase 1) Elicits Therapeutic Effects in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.
Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol
; 39(8): 1667-1681, 2019 08.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-31092016
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a debilitating disease associated with progressive vascular remodeling of distal pulmonary arteries leading to elevation of pulmonary artery pressure, right ventricular hypertrophy, and death. Although presenting high levels of DNA damage that normally jeopardize their viability, pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) from patients with PAH exhibit a cancer-like proproliferative and apoptosis-resistant phenotype accounting for vascular lumen obliteration. In cancer cells, overexpression of the serine/threonine-protein kinase CHK1 (checkpoint kinase 1) is exploited to counteract the excess of DNA damage insults they are exposed to. This study aimed to determine whether PAH-PASMCs have developed an orchestrated response mediated by CHK1 to overcome DNA damage, allowing cell survival and proliferation. Approach andResults:
We demonstrated that CHK1 expression is markedly increased in isolated PASMCs and distal PAs from patients with PAH compared with controls, as well as in multiple complementary animal models recapitulating the disease, including monocrotaline rats and the simian immunodeficiency virus-infected macaques. Using a pharmacological and molecular loss of function approach, we showed that CHK1 promotes PAH-PASMCs proliferation and resistance to apoptosis. In addition, we found that inhibition of CHK1 induces downregulation of the DNA repair protein RAD 51 and severe DNA damage. In vivo, we provided evidence that pharmacological inhibition of CHK1 significantly reduces vascular remodeling and improves hemodynamic parameters in 2 experimental rat models of PAH.CONCLUSIONS:
Our results show that CHK1 exerts a proproliferative function in PAH-PASMCs by mitigating DNA damage and suggest that CHK1 inhibition may, therefore, represent an attractive therapeutic option for patients with PAH.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Quinasa 1 Reguladora del Ciclo Celular (Checkpoint 1)
/
Hipertensión Arterial Pulmonar
Límite:
Animals
/
Humans
/
Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol
Asunto de la revista:
ANGIOLOGIA
Año:
2019
Tipo del documento:
Article