Researchers at Jefferson Medical College have begun to clarify the role of a protein - and potential drug target - in the process by which arteries re-clog after treatment.
The process - called restenosis - is due to an unregulated growth and movement of cells in the vessel.
Scientists have known that G-protein coupled receptors are involved in the growth and migration of cells, and alterations in the signaling through these receptors are involved in cardiovascular disease. The protein GRK5, part of the family of G-protein coupled receptor kinases, shuts down this signaling. GRK5 is present in vascular smooth muscle cells, which line the inside of blood vessels, and its levels rise in heart failure and high blood pressure.