SGLT2 Inhibitor Empagliflozin Modulates Ion Channels in Adult Zebrafish Heart.

Empagliflozin, an inhibitor of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (iSGLT2), improves cardiovascular outcomes in patients with and without diabetes and possesses an antiarrhythmic activity. However, the mechanisms of these protective effects have not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to explore the impact of empagliflozin on ion channel activity and electrophysiological characteristics in the ventricular myocardium.

Functional Analysis of SCN5A Genetic Variants Associated with Brugada Syndrome.

Background: Brugada syndrome (BrS) is a rare inherited cardiac arrhythmia with increased risk of sudden cardiac death. Mutations in gene SCN5A, which encodes the α-subunit of cardiac voltage-gated sodium channel NaV1.5, have been identified in over 20% of patients with BrS.

Small G-protein RhoA is a potential inhibitor of cardiac fast sodium current.

Small G-proteins of Rho family modulate the activity of several classes of ion channels, including K channels Kv1.2, Kir2.1, and ERG; Ca channels; and epithelial Na channels.

Regulation of Na1.5 Sodium Channels by Small G-Proteins of the Rho Family in a Heterologous Expression System.

The effect of small G-proteins of the Rho family on sodium current conducted by cardiac isoform Na1.5 of voltage-gated sodium channels was studied in heterologous expression system, CHO-K1 cell line transfected with a plasmid containing the Na1.5 gene.

Sodium current abnormalities and deregulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes generated from patient with arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy harboring compound genetic variants in plakophilin 2 gene.

Background: Mutations in desmosomal genes linked to arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy are commonly associated with Wnt/β-catenin signaling abnormalities and reduction of the sodium current density. Inhibitors of GSK3B were reported to restore sodium current and improve heart function in various arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy models, but mechanisms underlying this effect remain unclear. We hypothesized that there is a crosstalk between desmosomal proteins, signaling pathways, and cardiac sodium channels.