(OCTOBER 16, 2024) Osama Harraz, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology, explained to WCAX-TV his research team’s discovery of the role of the protein Piezo1 in the communication between neurons and blood vessels, underscoring the importance of its function for both blood flow regulation and cognitive health.
Osama Harraz, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology
(OCTOBER 16, 2024) Osama Harraz, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology, explained to WCAX-TV the significance of his research team’s discovery of the critical role of the protein Piezo1 in neurovascular coupling (the communication between neurons and blood vessels), underscoring the importance of its function for both blood flow regulation and cognitive health.
In short, the work represents a breakthrough that could help in the effort to better understand the causes of dementia and how to stop it.
“Many, many diseases are associated with changes in blood flow in the brain—Alzheimer’s, aging as a risk factor, vascular dementia, small vessel disease of the brain,” Harraz said.
By studying reactions of the brain in mice over three years, the discovery may give researchers a hint of why blood flow deteriorates and causes illness with aging.
The paper by Harraz et al., “Endothelial Piezo1 channel mediates mechano-feedback control of brain blood flow,” was recently published in Nature Communications.
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