VCOM Louisiana Research Day Program

Biomedical Research

Reggie Skains III, MA, OMS-III; Rebekah Morrow, PhD Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine-Louisiana 10 THE ROLE OF INTRACELLULAR OSTEOPONTIN IN PULMONARY ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION

Context: This research is currently being done to further understand the pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). There is a proposed theory that the endothelial to mesenchymal transition of pulmonary artery endothelial cells plays a role. This project will examine whether the loss of intracellular osteopontin enhances endothelial dysfunction in pulmonary arterial endothelial cells in pulmonary arterial hypertension. PAH is currently treated only by addressing the symptoms and not the underlying pathophysiology. With better understanding of the pathogenesis and role of different inflammatory molecules, there is hope this disease can be treated at the source of disease instead of just managing the symptoms associated with it. Objective: The objective is to examine whether loss of intracellular osteopontin enhances endothelial dysfunction in pulmonary artery endothelial cells in PAH. Methods: Gel electrophoresis, western blot, ELISA Results: There was variable expression of selected smooth muscle and fibroblast markers in the control wild type cell lines and infected cell lines. Control state and disease state cell

lines did not express markers in expected ways. This can be due to technical error or unexpected expression from the cell lines. This area of research and specific project is currently the focus of the Morrow lab, led by Drs. Adam and Rebekah Morrow and is still ongoing. Future research can focus on other smooth muscle and endothelial markers, such as vimentin, fibronectin, and alpha smooth muscle actin to see if they play a role in the endothelial to mesenchymal transition. Conclusions: While the results of this specific research project are not conclusive of the expression of osteopontin in the diseased and control cell lineages, whether this is due to technical error or not, future research should be continued to pinpoint the role of OPN in PAH.

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