Gaurav Kumar, PhD

Research Interest: Cardiovascular Biology, Physiology, Hypertension

Biography: Many healthcare organizations have declared hypertension as a global health burden that is indeed responsible for significantly high mortality rates. Dr. Sigmund's lab has previously identified phosphodiesterase (PDE5) as an interacting partner of Rho-related BTB domain containing 1 (RhoBTB1) protein. RhoBTB1 regulates PDE5 expression and activity and therefore intracellular cGMP levels. In contrast, restoration of RhoBTB1 expression in RhoBTB1-deficient states results in improvement of cardiovascular status in a mouse model of hypertension.

I am currently dealing with the identification of novel interacting protein partners with RhoBTB1, PDE5a, and Cullins, which are some of the interesting candidates involved in hypertension and associated cardiovascular impairments. Using molecular and cellular approaches, I plan to use specific domains of RhoBTB1 as bait to decipher the possible interaction of novel targets, that in turn, can open new therapeutic avenues to counter hypertension and related cardiovascular events.