# Therapeutic implications of purinergic receptor P2X4 in ischemic stroke

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT SCH OF MED/DNT · 2024 · $403,661

## Abstract

Summary:
Stroke remains a leading cause of disability in the United States. Stroke is a heterogeneous multifactorial
disorder. Prior attempts at developing new therapies have failed in clinics due to imperfect target validation,
unrealistic therapeutic windows and lack of age appropriate models. Thus, there is an opportunity and a need
to identify new medical treatment for stroke. The immune cells move to stroke area in the brain and contribute
to damage. We have recently shown that the purinergic P2X4 receptor is excessively stimulated by adenosine
triphosphate (ATP) released by dying brain cells during stroke. This receptor protein then causes activation of
the immune cells and results in greater stroke injury. We have assembled the necessary tools such as animals
lacking P2X4 receptors as well as blockers that selectively inhibit the receptor. The proposal, using these new
tools, aims to investigate whether this receptor protein is a novel target to develop treatment for subjects with
stroke. Our initial data suggest that blocking or deleting this receptor protein during the acute phase of stroke is
beneficial. However, it is unknown how this protein works and what its potential adverse effects might be.
Answering these questions is the overall goal here and should define the correct approach in pursuing a new
stroke treatment

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10843753
- **Project number:** 5R01NS125405-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT SCH OF MED/DNT
- **Principal Investigator:** Rajkumar Verma
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $403,661
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-06-15 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10843753

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10843753, Therapeutic implications of purinergic receptor P2X4 in ischemic stroke (5R01NS125405-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10843753. Licensed CC0.

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