Discovery May Lead to New Small Molecule Treatment for Hypertension

Researchers have discovered a compound that mimics the action catestatin, a hormone that controls the secretion of catecholamines, which in turn regulate blood pressure. After studying how catestatin binds nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, the team developed a 3D model of its active centers and screened a library of compounds for molecules matching this fingerprint. Seven compounds met the requirements and were tested in live cells to gauge their effects on catecholamines. Investigators tried one compound (TKO-10-18) on hypertensive mice and showed that it produced the same antihypertensive effect as catestatin. The findings are published inBioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry.