Cardiac Electrophysiology and Pharmacology 2024
A special issue of Pharmaceuticals (ISSN 1424-8247).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 June 2024) | Viewed by 337
Special Issue Editors
2. HU-REN-SZTE Research Group for Cardiovascular Pharmacology, 6720 Szeged, Hungary
Interests: cardiac electrophysiology; arrhythmias; sinoatrial pace-making; Ca2+ cycling; hiPSC
Interests: Na/Ca exchanger; Ca handling; cardiac electrophysiology; arrhythmias
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Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Cardiac arrhythmia is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality; therefore, significant efforts in cardiac research have been made to identify appropriate antiarrhythmic drugs over the past few decades. Classical antiarrhythmic therapy includes the application of different Na+-, K+ and Ca2+-channel blockers, however pharmacological interventions are still hampered because the compounds often exert a lack of selectivity and/or proarrhythmic side effects. A further important aspect of the unsatisfactory pharmacological treatments is the lack of sufficient knowledge of the underlying mechanisms of several diseases. A better understanding of cardiac electrophysiology, both in healthy and pathophysiological conditions, could improve the effectiveness of pharmacological treatments and may decrease proarrhythmic risk. Accordingly, better understanding of Ca2+ handling in health and disease by exploring its regulatory mechanisms, its role in arrhythmogenesis and in-depth details of Ca2+ mismanagement may improve the development of novel antiarrhythmic strategies. Pharmacological modification of different receptors and ion channels such as the ryanodine receptor, Na+/Ca2+ exchanger, sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase was the object of intensive research in the past few years. Understanding the electrical properties of the heart–including pacemaker-, atrial-, ventricular or Purkinje cells–and the possibilities of their pharmacological modulation are also critically important to improve the therapeutic pharmacological strategies. For instance, pharmacological inhibition of the Ca2+ activated K+ current has emerged to be a leading novel target to modulate pacemaking or action potential duration in non-pacemaking tissues in various diseases. Novel techniques, such as optogenetics, hiPSC derived cardiomyocytes or computational modeling may help to explore the pharmacological and physiological properties of ion channels such as Na+-channels or background channels that are difficult to measure using conventional techniques or as the transient outward current (Ito) that lack appropriately specific inhibitors. The engineering and comprehensive analysis of novel, more specific pharmacological compounds are also necessary to specifically characterize an ion channel function and provide novel strategies for pharmacological interventions. This Special Issue is designed for the fields of cardiac electrophysiology, pathophysiology and pharmacology with the aim of better understanding of the basic cardiac mechanisms and highlighting the importance of improving the efficacy and safety of antiarrhythmic treatment.
Dr. Noémi Tóth
Dr. Norbert Nagy
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- heart
- arrhythmia
- Ca2+ handling
- ion channels
- electrophysiology
- pharmacology
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