Treatment of Pulmonary Vascular Remodeling With Neprilysin

A method of diagnosing pulmonary vascular remodeling in a subject comprising the steps of:

• (i) obtaining a tissue sample comprising lung tissue, pulmonary vascular muscle, endothelial cell tissue or fibroblast tissue from a subject;
• and
• (ii) assessing the expression of neprilysin in cells of said sample,
• wherein a reduced amount of neprilysin expression in cells of said sample, as compared to healthy cells, indicates that said subject has pulmonary vascular remodeling.

A method of screening a candidate substance for activity against pulmonary vascular remodeling comprising the steps of:

• (i) providing a cell expressing neprilysin;
• (ii) contacting said cell with said candidate substance;
• and
• (iii) determining the effect of said candidate substance on expression or activity of neprilysin,
• wherein an increase in neprilysin expression or activity identifies said substance as having activity against pulmonary vascular remodeling.

A method of screening a candidate substance for activity against pulmonary vascular remodeling comprising the steps of:

• (i) providing a cell comprising an expression construct comprising a native neprilysin promoter operably linked to a detectable marker;
• (ii) contacting said cell with said candidate substance;
• and
• (iii) determining the effect of said candidate substance on expression of the detectable marker,
• wherein an increase in expression of the detectable marker identifies said substance as having activity against pulmonary vascular remodeling.