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Volume 85, Issue 4; October, 2005.
[Index by Author] [Editorial Board]
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= article is free immediately upon publication
(all articles are free one year after publication)
Cover: The mechanical "pump" functioning of the heart depends on proper electrical functioning, reflected in the generation and propagation of action potentials. In different regions of the heart, action potential waveforms are distinct owing to differences in the expression of the various ion channels, e.g., Na+, Ca2+ and K+ channels, which underlie action potential generation and repolarization. Of these, cardiac K+ channels, which are the primary determinants of repolarization, are the most numerous and most diverse. Alterations in cardiac ion channel expression or functioning, resulting from inherited or acquired disease, affect action potential waveforms and can lead to the generation of life-threatening arrhythmias. Considerable progress has been made in defining the functional roles of the various channels in shaping action potential waveforms, and in identifying the pore-forming (α) subunits encoding these channels. It has also become quite apparent that cardiac ion channels function as components of macromolecular complexes, comprising the α-subunits, one or more accessory subunits, and a variety of other regulatory proteins. In addition, these macromolecular channel protein complexes appear to interact with the actin cytoskeleton, as well as extracellular matrix, suggesting important functional links between cardiac structure and electrical functioning. Important goals of ongoing and future research will be the identification of each of the molecular components of functional cardiac ion channel macromolecular complexes and delineation of the molecular mechanisms that control the cell surface expression and the functioning of these channels in the normal and the diseased myocardium. See Nerbonne, Jeanne M., and Robert S. Kass. Physiol Rev 85: 1205–1253, 2005.
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