Potassium Channel News and Research

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Sucampo's RESCULA 0.15% now available by prescription across the U.S.

Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that RESCULA (unoprostone isopropyl ophthalmic solution) 0.15% is now available by prescription across the United States. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a sNDA for RESCULA for the lowering of intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension on December 7, 2012.

19 Feb 2013

Activation of SK channels can lead to heart disease

Qing-Hui Chen's research focuses on hypertension, heart failure and the neuromechanisms that underlie these problems. Specifically, his research examines how a particular ion channel (that regulates resting and action in membranes)—the potassium channel (SK)—is linked to heart disease.

14 Feb 2013

Scientists identify cause of certain forms of epilepsy in cats

There is something sinister about epilepsy: the disease affects the very core of our being, our brain. Epileptic attacks can lead to seizures throughout the body or in parts of it. Clouding of consciousness or memory lapses are also possible. The causes are still only partially understood but in some cases brain tumours, infections, inflammations of the brain or metabolic diseases have been implicated.

2 Feb 2013

Bioelectric signals can identify cells that are likely to develop into tumors

Biologists at Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences have discovered a bioelectric signal that can identify cells that are likely to develop into tumors. The researchers also found that they could lower the incidence of cancerous cells by manipulating the electrical charge across cells' membranes.

1 Feb 2013

Rethinking therapy decisions in autoimmune encephalopathy

Researchers say that diagnosis and management of encephalopathies may need to be rethought, as many patients who test negative for the relevant antibody still benefit from immunotherapy.

4 Dec 2012

Study finds mechanism that mediates inhibition of critical breathing muscles during REM sleep

A novel brain mechanism mediating the inhibition of the critical breathing muscles during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep has been identified for the first time in a new study, offering the possibility of a new treatment target for sleep-related breathing problems.

16 Nov 2012

Two CUMC studies provide new insights into spinal muscular atrophy

A study by scientists from the Motor Neuron Center at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) suggests that spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a genetic neuromuscular disease in infants and children, results primarily from motor circuit dysfunction, not motor neuron or muscle cell dysfunction, as is commonly thought.

12 Oct 2012

New ways of how biological clock's neurons use electrical activity to keep behavioral rhythms in order

Biologists from New York University have uncovered new ways our biological clock's neurons use electrical activity to help keep behavioral rhythms in order. The findings, which appear in the journal Current Biology, also point to fresh directions for exploring sleep disorders and related afflictions.

6 Oct 2012

Biologists reveal one way that biological clocks control neuronal activity

Biologists at New York University have uncovered one way that biological clocks control neuronal activity - a discovery that sheds new light on sleep-wake cycles and offers potential new directions for research into therapies to address sleep disorders and jetlag.

26 Sep 2012

Potassium-channel autoimmunity linked to chronic pain

A substantial proportion of patients with voltage-gated potassium channel-complex autoimmunity experience chronic idiopathic pain, although the specific antigenic complex associated with pain remains to be determined, conclude US scientists.

3 Sep 2012

Chronic nerve pain: an interview with Professor Sally Lawson

Chronic nerve pain results from pathological changes within a nerve that appear to be self-sustaining and thus the pain continues for a long time.

30 Aug 2012

Positive results from Acorda post-marketing commitment study of dalfampridine-ER for MS

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. today announced top line results from a post-marketing commitment study evaluating a 5mg dose of dalfampridine-ER to improve walking in people with multiple sclerosis. The study failed to confirm efficacy of the 5mg dose.

13 Aug 2012

Investigational drug shows promise against most severe form of congenital hyperinsulinism

A pilot study in adolescents and adults has found that an investigational drug shows promise as the first potential medical treatment for children with the severest type of congenital hyperinsulinism, a rare but potentially devastating disease in which gene mutations cause insulin levels to become dangerously high.

2 Aug 2012

Heart-protective protein finally found

It is a cellular component so scarce, some scientists even doubted its existence, and many others gave up searching for its molecular structure. Now a team led by researchers at Johns Hopkins has defined the protein structural composition of mitoKATP, a potassium channel in the mitochondria of the heart and other organs that is known to protect against tissue damage due to a heart attack or stroke.

18 Jul 2012