About the Authors

Sandra Geschka

Affiliation Cardiology Research, Bayer HealthCare, Wuppertal, Germany

Axel Kretschmer

Affiliation Global Biomarker, Bayer HealthCare, Wuppertal, Germany

Yuliya Sharkovska

Affiliations Institute of Nutritional Science, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany, Center for Cardiovascular Research, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Charité, Berlin, Germany

Oleg V. Evgenov

Affiliation Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America

Bettina Lawrenz

Affiliation Pathology, Bayer HealthCare, Wuppertal, Germany

Andreas Hucke

Affiliation Cardiology Research, Bayer HealthCare, Wuppertal, Germany

Berthold Hocher

Affiliations Institute of Nutritional Science, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany, Center for Cardiovascular Research, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Charité, Berlin, Germany

Johannes-Peter Stasch

johannes-peter.stasch@bayer.com

Affiliations Cardiology Research, Bayer HealthCare, Wuppertal, Germany, Institute of Pharmacy, Martin Luther University, Halle, Germany

Competing Interests

JPS, AK, BL and JPS are full-time employees at Bayer HealthCare. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. JPS is a co-inventor in several patent applications on sGC stimulators, including riociguat.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: AK J-PS. Performed the experiments: AH AK YS BL J-PS. Analyzed the data: SG AK YS OVE BL BH J-PS. Wrote the paper: SG AK YS OVE BH J-PS.