# Protease-Mediated Vascular Instability in Development and Disease

> **NIH NIH R35** · OKLAHOMA MEDICAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION · 2021 · $844,478

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Vascular integrity is critical for the prevention of tissue edema, thrombosis, inflammation, and hemorrhage.
Identifying new factors that influence vascular integrity positively or negatively can provide important
therapeutic options for maintaining vascular health. Over the last decade, my lab has taken unbiased genetic
approaches in mice to generate vascular phenotypes and to discern their mechanistic causes, and we have
seen a powerful theme emerge from our work: excessive proteolysis is detrimental to endothelial cells and to
vascular integrity in vivo. Although proteases are well recognized for regulating sprouting angiogenesis in new
vessels, there is still a gap in knowledge about their impact on the endothelium of established vessels.
Therefore, the objective of this NHLBI Emerging Investigator Award is to define the contexts and the
mechanisms through which proteases damage blood and lymphatic vessel integrity. We will approach this
broad objective by expanding on two research areas that are supported by our published and preliminary data.
First, we will examine extracellular matrix degradation in the context of protease-mediated vascular damage.
We will exploit our multiple genetic models with elevated protease activity to reveal commonalities in matrix
composition and fragmentation near sites of vascular rupture, and we will seek to discern the relative
importance of matrix scaffolding versus matrix/endothelial cell signaling in maintaining vascular integrity in vivo.
Secondly, we will focus on protease-mediated endothelial cell necroptosis. Necroptosis is a newly-identified
form of cell death, and little is known about its causes or effects in the vasculature. Our preliminary data
indicate that proteases can directly trigger endothelial cell necroptosis during embryonic development. We will
examine the mechanism through which this occurs and will determine the contribution of protease-mediated
necroptosis to various postnatal vascular diseases. The proposed research is paradigm-shifting because it
considers new roles for proteases in the context of vascular integrity and because it could generate new
therapeutic targets for pathologies associated with high protease activity and vascular fragility.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10111554
- **Project number:** 5R35HL144605-03
- **Recipient organization:** OKLAHOMA MEDICAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION
- **Principal Investigator:** Courtney T Griffin
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $844,478
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-03-06 → 2026-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10111554

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10111554, Protease-Mediated Vascular Instability in Development and Disease (5R35HL144605-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10111554. Licensed CC0.

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