title: Pathophysiology of hypertension in the absence of nitric oxide/cyclic GMP signaling.
abstract: The nitric oxide (NO)-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) signaling system is a well-characterized modulator of cardiovascular function, in general, and blood pressure, in particular. The availability of mice mutant for key enzymes in the NO-cGMP signaling system facilitated the identification of interactions with other blood pressure modifying pathways (e.g. the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system) and of gender-specific effects of impaired NO-cGMP signaling. In addition, recent genome-wide association studies identified blood pressure-modifying genetic variants in genes that modulate NO and cGMP levels. Together, these findings have advanced our understanding of how NO-cGMP signaling regulates blood pressure. In this review, we will summarize the results obtained in mice with disrupted NO-cGMP signaling and highlight the relevance of this pathway as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of hypertension.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Cardiology Research Institute, Molecular Cardiology Research Center, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA 02111, USA. rthoonen@tuftsmedicalcenter.org
authors.forename: Robrecht
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thoonen
authors.forename: Patrick Y
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Sips
authors.forename: Kenneth D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Bloch
authors.forename: Emmanuel S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Buys
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D006152:Cyclic GMP / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D017869:Cyclic GMP-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000502:physiology; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051379:Mice; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D023421:Models, Animal; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D014661:Vasoconstriction / Q000502:physiology; D014664:Vasodilation / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D009569:Nitric Oxide; D017869:Cyclic GMP-Dependent Protein Kinases; D006152:Cyclic GMP