PCSK9 inhibitor alleviates experimental pulmonary fibrosis-induced pulmonary hypertension via attenuating epithelial-mesenchymal transition by suppressing Wnt/β-catenin signaling in vivo and in vitro

Description

Jiancheng Lin and co-authors test a cholesterol drug against lung scarring complications in a 2024 study. Scarred lungs often develop dangerous blood pressure in their vessels. That pairing worsens survival compared with scarring alone. A protein central to cholesterol control was the drug target.

A chemical injury model created scarring with vessel disease in mice. Blocking the protein reduced artery thickening and heart strain. Cell experiments modeled scarring with a growth factor signal. Treated cells migrated less and resisted identity change. A developmental signaling pathway quieted in both settings. That pathway drives the cell identity shift behind scarring. The inhibitor thus attacks scarring at a signaling root. Animal and dish results point the same direction. The authors propose the drug class for this complication. No prior report had tested it here. Clinical translation would need human trials.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC11668660