Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States.
Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States.
Curr Top Membr. 2023;92:1-14. doi: 10.1016/bs.ctm.2023.09.002. Epub 2023 Sep 22.
"No cell could exist without ion channels" (Clay Armstrong; 1999). Since the discovery in the early 1950s, that ions move across biological membranes, the idea that changes of ionic gradients can generate biological signals has fascinated scientists in any fields. Soon later (1960s) it was found that ionic flows were controlled by a class of specific and selective proteins called ion channels. Thus, it became clear that the concerted activities of these proteins can initiate, arrest, and finely tune a variety of biochemical cascades which offered the opportunity to better understand both biology and pathology. Cancer is a disease that is notoriously difficult to treat due its heterogeneous nature which makes it the deadliest disease in the developed world. Recently, emerging evidence has established that potassium channels are critical modulators of several hallmarks of cancer including tumor growth, metastasis, and metabolism. Nevertheless, the role of potassium ion channels in cancer biology and the therapeutic potential offered by targeting these proteins has not been explored thoroughly. This chapter is addressed to both cancer biologists and ion channels scientists and it aims to shine a light on the established and potential roles of potassium ion channels in cancer biology and on the therapeutic benefit of targeting potassium channels with activator molecules.
“没有离子通道，细胞就无法存在”（Clay Armstrong；1999 年）。自 20 世纪 50 年代早期发现离子穿过生物膜以来，离子梯度的变化可以产生生物信号的观点一直令各个领域的科学家着迷。不久之后（60 年代），人们发现离子流是由一类称为离子通道的特定和选择性蛋白质控制的。因此，很明显，这些蛋白质的协同活动可以启动、阻止和精细调节多种生化级联反应，从而有机会更好地理解生物学和病理学。癌症是一种难以治疗的疾病，因其异质性而臭名昭著，使其成为发达国家最致命的疾病。最近，新出现的证据已经确立，钾离子通道是包括肿瘤生长、转移和代谢在内的几种癌症特征的关键调节剂。然而，钾离子通道在癌症生物学中的作用以及针对这些蛋白质的治疗潜力尚未得到充分探索。本章面向癌症生物学家和离子通道科学家，旨在阐明钾离子通道在癌症生物学中的既定和潜在作用，以及用激活剂分子靶向钾离子通道的治疗益处。
