A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix and the University of California Davis Health found a new target for developing a medication to treat atrial fibrillation (AFib or AF) which is the most common type of irregular heart rhythm. Researchers say that the American Heart Association predicts that more than 12 million people will have AFib by 2030, and existing treatment approaches are inadequate. Proteins involved in the 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. Nipavan Chiamvimonvat, MD, chair of the Department of Basic Medical Sciences at the U of A College of Medicine-Phoenix said, “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.
” For the study, the researchers examined the role of a lipid, phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate or PIP2, in regulating the SK2 channel. PIP2 is an integral component of all plant and animal cell membranes and acts as a messenger for a varie.