Faculty Mentor(s)

Dr. Willa Harper

Project Type

Student Scholarship

Scholarship Domain(s)

Scholarship of Discovery, Scholarship of Interdisciplinary Integration

Presentation Type

Presentation

Abstract

Presentation Location: Warming House, Olivet Nazarene University

Abstract

The eNOS pathway, found in the endothelium of blood vessels, is a key regulator of nitric oxide levels in the circulatory system. The pathway is controlled through several positive and negative feedback loops [2]. The cofactor tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) is a major control point in this pathway and under conditions of stress can be reduced into the dihydrobiopterin (BH2) [2,6,7,8,9]. When the reduced form is predominant, the pathway produces reactive oxygen species (ROS) rather than nitric oxide, causing stress and damage to the vessels [6,7,8,9]. In this study, different treatments were studied to determine which is most effective in restoring BH4 levels in the eNOS pathway of bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs). Nitric oxide supplementation was the main focus of this study and was tested as a stand-alone treatment and as a combined treatment along with a BH4 donor drug, sapropterin dihydrochloride. Following the two treatments, only the BAECs given the nitric oxide donor drug showed levels of BH4 higher than the untreated control cells. The cells treated with 25 mM nitric oxide donor drug and 2.5 mM BH4 donor drug showed levels of BH4 that were most similar to the untreated control cells with a concentration of approximately 27 mM BH4.

Permission Type

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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Mediation of the uncoupled eNOS pathway following oxidative stress using tetrahydrobiopterin and nitric oxide donor drugs to restore tetrahydrobiopterin concentration

Other

Presentation Location: Warming House, Olivet Nazarene University

Abstract

The eNOS pathway, found in the endothelium of blood vessels, is a key regulator of nitric oxide levels in the circulatory system. The pathway is controlled through several positive and negative feedback loops [2]. The cofactor tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) is a major control point in this pathway and under conditions of stress can be reduced into the dihydrobiopterin (BH2) [2,6,7,8,9]. When the reduced form is predominant, the pathway produces reactive oxygen species (ROS) rather than nitric oxide, causing stress and damage to the vessels [6,7,8,9]. In this study, different treatments were studied to determine which is most effective in restoring BH4 levels in the eNOS pathway of bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs). Nitric oxide supplementation was the main focus of this study and was tested as a stand-alone treatment and as a combined treatment along with a BH4 donor drug, sapropterin dihydrochloride. Following the two treatments, only the BAECs given the nitric oxide donor drug showed levels of BH4 higher than the untreated control cells. The cells treated with 25 mM nitric oxide donor drug and 2.5 mM BH4 donor drug showed levels of BH4 that were most similar to the untreated control cells with a concentration of approximately 27 mM BH4.