Congratulations to Drs. Adam Straub, Katherine Wood, and Dandan Sun (Neurology), who were recently awarded an NIH-NINDS R01. The investigators have been awarded annual direct costs of over $380,000 their grant titled, “Cerebral Vascular Redox Regulation in Stroke.” This proposal was submitted in response to the competitive funding opportunity titled NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01) under funding opportunity number PA-20-185.
Cytochrome b5 reductase 3 (Cyb5R3) regulates soluble guanylyl cyclase heme iron redox state, a key enzyme controlling cerebral artery vascular tone. In this application, we will investigate whether a high frequency genetic variant (T117S) in Cyb5R3, which exists with 23% minor allele frequency in African Americans compared to less than 1% in Euro-Americans, contributes to cerebral vascular dysfunction and ischemic stroke. The proposed studies will fill a major void in our understanding of the role of CYB5R3 T117S in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke, with the potential for the development of new strategies and therapeutics to treat a large proportion of AA who suffer from ischemic stroke.