Limiting reductive stress for treating in-stent stenosis: the heart of the matter?

Restenosis after balloon angioplasty and stenting (BAS) remains an unsolved clinical dilemma for patients with coronary artery disease. A better understanding of the mechanisms that drive this phenomenon is likely to lead to more effective treatments. In this issue of the JCI, Ali et al. uncover a critical redox axis with the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase-1 (GPX1) at its hub and identify potential new therapeutic targets, such as ROS1 tyrosine kinase. This study represents a potential new approach to finding a treatment for BAS, with implications that may extend beyond BAS to other vasculopathies involving vascular remodeling.