Nitric oxide
- Disturbed nitric oxide signalling gives rise to congenital bicuspid aortic valve and aortopathy
Summary: Nitric oxide defects link bicuspid aortic valve formation and aortopathy through inhibition of elastic fibre formation in vascular smooth muscle cells within the ascending aorta of Nos3−/− mice.
- Sodium nitroprusside prevents the detrimental effects of glucose on the neurovascular unit and behaviour in zebrafish
Summary: Diabetes is associated with vascular and neurological impairments. The authors show that an NO donor ameliorates the glucose-exposure-induced dysfunction in the tectal neurovascular unit and whole-organism behaviour.
- Heterozygous disruption of activin receptor-like kinase 1 is associated with increased arterial pressure in mice
Summary: Mice haploinsufficient for Alk1, a receptor for the TGF-β family, show hypertension, based on overactivation of the sympathetic nervous system and a reduction in the number of cholinergic neurons in the CNS.