Research
Our research is mainly concerned with the physiology and pathophysiology of the regulation of cellular events. The understanding of signal transduction processes will help to identify potential drug targets.
The major focus of our work is the NO/cGMP-mediated signalling cascade that plays a major role in the
cardivascular and neuronal systems.
The NO/cGMP signalling cascade. The signalling molecule nitric oxide (NO) is formed by the neuronal and endothelial NO synthases (NOS)
that are activated by a rise of intracellular calcium.
Within the same or neighbouring cells, NO activates NO-sensitive guanylyl cyclase (NO-GC)
that generates cGMP.
The cellular effects of cGMP are mediated by different cGMP effector molecules: cGMP-regulated protein kinases,
phosphodiesterases (PDEs) and ion channels.
By degrading cGMP, phosphodiesterases (PDEs) exert a substancial influence on intracellular cGMP signals.
