title: Ca2+ channels and epilepsy.
abstract: The epilepsies encompass diverse seizure disorders afflicting as many as 50 million people worldwide. Many forms of epilepsy are intractable to current therapies and there is a pressing need to develop agents and strategies to not only suppress seizures, but also cure epilepsy. Recent insights from molecular genetics and pharmacology now point to an important role for voltage-dependent calcium channels in epilepsy. In this article, I first provide an introduction to the classification of the epilepsies and an overview of neuronal Ca(2+) channels. Next, I attempt to review the evidence for a role of Ca(2+) channels in epilepsy and the insights gained from genetics and pharmacology. Lastly, I describe new avenues for how such information might be exploited in the development of therapeutic reagents.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neuroscience, School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, 1.136 Stopford Building, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK. owen.t.jones@man.ac.uk
authors.forename: Owen T
authors.initials: OT
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000085:Acetates / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000588:Amines; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D003509:Cyclohexanecarboxylic Acids; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*; D000077206:Gabapentin; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid
chemical_list: D000085:Acetates; D000588:Amines; D015220:Calcium Channels; D003509:Cyclohexanecarboxylic Acids; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D000077206:Gabapentin