Dr. Conor McClenaghan awarded $746,998 by National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute grant
R00HL150277: Electrical excitability in vascular smooth muscle: from rare disease to new paradigms
The behaviour of ion channels, gated-pores which allow for the movement of charged ions across cell membranes, controls the electrical activity (excitability) of muscle cells in blood vessels - and thereby regulates blood pressure. This project aims to investigate the little understood long-term consequences for cardiovascular health when ion channels dysfunction in such a way that vascular smooth muscle excitability is decreased.