title: Potassium channels: possible new therapeutic targets in Parkinson's disease.
abstract: Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders and still remains incurable. New targets for potential pharmacological intervention should be explored and evaluated in order to slow down, delay or reverse the progress of this disease, and/or to avoid the serious side effects of levodopa praeparatum. Potassium (K+) channels widely express in basal ganglia and play crucial roles in the pathophysiology of PD, thereby raising their therapeutic application. Based on data from some pilot studies, we propose that K+ channels may provide possible new therapeutic targets for slowing down the progressive loss of dopamine neurons in PD. The most promising targets of K+ channels, including Kv, KATP, Kir, SK, and K2P channels, etc. deserve further pursuit for making comprehensive use of their novel therapeutic potential. Attempts to confirm this hypothesis may lead to new therapeutic strategy of PD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, 325027 Wenzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Peng-lin
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Ji-fei
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Jia-feng
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Xiao-hong
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Xiao-tong
authors.initials: XT
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Guo-qing
authors.initials: GQ
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D015221:Potassium Channels