Advances in biomolecular studies of channelopathies allow for a better understanding of disease mechanisms and the potential for targeted pharmacological treatments.
May guide targeted therapies in channelopathies; leaves open clinical translation of in vitro data.
Channelopathies are genetically determined ion channel alterations that lead to acute and transient symptoms in subjects who otherwise appear to be normal. This article reviews the recent progression of biomolecular studies that have clarified the mechanisms by which gene mutations may result in alterations of excitable tissues responsible for episodic neurological, neuromuscular and cardiac disorders, defined as channelopathies. The development of technologies capable of testing pharmacological agents in vitro on mutated channels expressed in cell lines makes it possible to define a more rational use of the available drugs acting on ion channels, and to design new molecules specifically targeted to known channel dysfunctions and new ones that could be identified by future genetic studies.
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Avanzini et al. (2004) studied this question.
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