Therapeutic potential of Voltage gated Calcium channels.
Voltage-gated Calcium channels (VGCCs) play important roles in neurotransmitter release, excitation-contraction coupling, hormone secretion, and a variety of other physiological processes. Currently, there exist ion channel therapeutics for anxiety, epilepsy, hypertension, insomnia and pain. There is limited amount of study in this area despite their relevance to human disease and VGCCs remain considerably underexploited. The present review mainly focuses on calcium channel blockers (CCBs), especially for L-type channels and T-type channels, and therein lie some of the opportunities and advantages associated with VGCCs as drug targets.
Mohan
C Gopi
CG
Centre for Pharmacoinformatics, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Punjab, India. cmohan@niper.ac.in
Gandhi
Tamanna
T
D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000378:metabolism*; D020746:Calcium Channels, L-Type / Q000378:metabolism*; D020864:Calcium Channels, N-Type / Q000378:metabolism*; D020013:Calcium Signaling; D002626:Chemistry, Pharmaceutical / Q000379:methods; D015195:Drug Design; D006801:Humans; D015640:Ion Channel Gating; D008954:Models, Biological
D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D015220:Calcium Channels; D020746:Calcium Channels, L-Type; D020864:Calcium Channels, N-Type; D002118:Calcium