A new study by researchers at the University of Arizona College of Medicine–Phoenix and the University of California Davis Health identified a new target for developing a therapy to treat atrial fibrillation, the most common type of abnormal heart rhythm. Atrial fibrillation, commonly called AFib or AF, causes about 1 in 7 strokes, according to the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is associated with a significant increase in the risk of morbidity and mortality. More than 12 million people are expected to have AFib by 2030, according to the American Heart Association, and current treatment paradigms remain inadequate, researchers say. Proteins involved in physiological processes of the heart have been a target of research for AFib for some time.
Until recently, most research suggested that treating AFib through inhibition of specific small-conductance calcium-activated potassium channels, or SK channels, could either reduce or worsen arrhythmias under different conditions. "Our study used pioneering experimental and computational approaches to decipher how the human SK2 channel can be dynamically co-regulated. The study is especially timely considering inhibitors of SK channels are currently in clinical trials to treat AFib, making further insight into their regulatory mechanisms paramount," said Nipavan Chiamvimonvat, MD, chair of the Department of Basic Medical Sciences at the U of A College of Medicine–Phoenix.
The paper, "Atomistic Mechanisms of the.