Modulating Activity of Calcium Release Channels

Using a new assay for drug development (see Abrj-01), PSU researchers have developed new compounds that may prove useful in the treatment of heart arrhythmia.

 

Ventricular arrhythmias appear to be caused by a calcium leak from the sarcoplasmic reticulum in cardiac muscle, and arrhythmias often lead to heart failure.  Drugs that prevent and treat arrhythmias often work by inhibiting this calcium leak.   The PSU researchers have shown that their new compounds are a potent inhibitor of calcium leak in skeletal muscle, and will soon be testing the compounds in cardiac muscle and several animal models.