Phytosterol accumulation results in ventricular arrhythmia, impaired cardiac function and death in mice.

Heart failure (HF) and cardiac arrhythmias share overlapping pathological mechanisms that act cooperatively to accelerate disease pathogenesis. Cardiac fibrosis is associated with both pathological conditions. Our previous work identified a link between phytosterol accumulation and cardiac injury in a mouse model of phytosterolemia, a rare disorder characterized by elevated circulating phytosterols and increased cardiovascular disease risk.

Selective inhibition of physiological late Na current stabilizes ventricular repolarization.

The physiological role of cardiac late Na current ( I) has not been well described. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that selective inhibition of physiological late I abbreviates the normal action potential (AP) duration (APD) and counteracts the prolongation of APD and arrhythmic activities caused by inhibition of the delayed rectifier K current ( I). The effects of GS-458967 (GS967) on the physiological late I and APs in rabbit isolated ventricular myocytes and on the monophasic APs and arrhythmias in rabbit isolated perfused hearts were determined.

Discovery of Dihydrobenzoxazepinone (GS-6615) Late Sodium Current Inhibitor (Late Ii), a Phase II Agent with Demonstrated Preclinical Anti-Ischemic and Antiarrhythmic Properties.

Late sodium current (late I) is enhanced during ischemia by reactive oxygen species (ROS) modifying the Na 1.5 channel, resulting in incomplete inactivation. Compound 4 (GS-6615, eleclazine) a novel, potent, and selective inhibitor of late I, is currently in clinical development for treatment of long QT-3 syndrome (LQT-3), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and ventricular tachycardia-ventricular fibrillation (VT-VF).

The novel late Na current inhibitor, GS-6615 (eleclazine) and its anti-arrhythmic effects in rabbit isolated heart preparations.

Background And Purpose: Enhanced late Na current (late I ) in the myocardium is pro-arrhythmic. Inhibition of this current is a promising strategy to stabilize ventricular repolarization and suppress arrhythmias. Here, we describe GS-6615, a selective inhibitor of late I , already in clinical development for the treatment of long QT syndrome 3 (LQT3).

Spatially Discordant Alternans and Arrhythmias in Tachypacing-Induced Cardiac Myopathy in Transgenic LQT1 Rabbits: The Importance of IKs and Ca2+ Cycling.

Background: Remodeling of cardiac repolarizing currents, such as the downregulation of slowly activating K+ channels (IKs), could underlie ventricular fibrillation (VF) in heart failure (HF). We evaluated the role of Iks remodeling in VF susceptibility using a tachypacing HF model of transgenic rabbits with Long QT Type 1 (LQT1) syndrome.

Methods And Results: LQT1 and littermate control (LMC) rabbits underwent three weeks of tachypacing to induce cardiac myopathy (TICM).

Combined actions of ivabradine and ranolazine reduce ventricular rate during atrial fibrillation.

Introduction: Ventricular rate during atrial fibrillation (AF) can be reduced by slowing atrioventricular (AV) node conduction and/or by decreasing dominant frequency of AF. We investigated whether combined administration of ivabradine and ranolazine reduces ventricular rate during AF.

Methods And Results: Ivabradine (maximum clinical dose, 0.

If inhibition in the atrioventricular node by ivabradine causes rate-dependent slowing of conduction and reduces ventricular rate during atrial fibrillation.

Background: If channels are functionally expressed in atrioventricular (AV) nodal tissue.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to address whether the prototypical If inhibitor, ivabradine, at clinically safe concentrations can slow AV node conduction to reduce ventricular rate (VR) during atrial fibrillation (AF).

Methods: Effects of ivabradine (0.

Selective inhibition of the late sodium current has no adverse effect on electrophysiological or contractile function of the normal heart.

Inhibition of cardiac late Na(+) current (I(Na,L)) decreases sodium-dependent calcium overload in diseased hearts. Because INa,L is small in the absence of disease, its inhibition is not expected to significantly alter function of the normal heart. To test this hypothesis, we determined the effects of GS-458967 (GS967), a novel selective inhibitor of I(Na,L) (IC(50) = 0.

A novel, potent, and selective inhibitor of cardiac late sodium current suppresses experimental arrhythmias.

Inhibition of cardiac late sodium current (late I(Na)) is a strategy to suppress arrhythmias and sodium-dependent calcium overload associated with myocardial ischemia and heart failure. Current inhibitors of late I(Na) are unselective and can be proarrhythmic. This study introduces GS967 (6-[4-(trifluoromethoxy)phenyl]-3-(trifluoromethyl)-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]pyridine), a potent and selective inhibitor of late I(Na), and demonstrates its effectiveness to suppress ventricular arrhythmias.

Differential conditions for early after-depolarizations and triggered activity in cardiomyocytes derived from transgenic LQT1 and LQT2 rabbits.

Early after-depolarization (EAD), or abnormal depolarization during the plateau phase of action potentials, is a hallmark of long-QT syndrome (LQTS). More than 13 genes have been identified as responsible for LQTS, and elevated risks for EADs may depend on genotypes, such as exercise in LQT1 vs. sudden arousal in LQT2 patients.

Enhanced calcium cycling and contractile function in transgenic hearts expressing constitutively active G alpha o* protein.

In contrast to the other heterotrimeric GTP-binding proteins (G proteins) Gs and Gi, the functional role of G o is still poorly defined. To investigate the role of G alpha o in the heart, we generated transgenic mice with cardiac-specific expression of a constitutively active form of G alpha o1* (G alpha o*), the predominant G alpha o isoform in the heart. G alpha o expression was increased 3- to 15-fold in mice from 5 independent lines, all of which had a normal life span and no gross cardiac morphological abnormalities.

Consequences of cardiac myocyte-specific ablation of KATP channels in transgenic mice expressing dominant negative Kir6 subunits.

Cardiac ATP-sensitive K+ (K(ATP)) channels are formed by Kir6.2 and SUR2A subunits. We produced transgenic mice that express dominant negative Kir6.

Phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate indirectly activates KCa3.1 via 14 amino acids in the carboxy terminus of KCa3.1.

KCa3.1 is an intermediate conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channel that is expressed predominantly in hematopoietic cells, smooth muscle cells, and epithelia where it functions to regulate membrane potential, Ca2+ influx, cell volume, and chloride secretion. We recently found that the KCa3.

The phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate phosphatase myotubularin- related protein 6 (MTMR6) is a negative regulator of the Ca2+-activated K+ channel KCa3.1.

Myotubularins (MTMs) belong to a large subfamily of phosphatases that dephosphorylate the 3' position of phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate [PI(3)P] and PI(3,5)P(2). MTM1 is mutated in X-linked myotubular myopathy, and MTMR2 and MTMR13 are mutated in Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome. However, little is known about the general mechanism(s) whereby MTMs are regulated or the specific biological processes regulated by the different MTMs.

Caveolin-3 and SAP97 form a scaffolding protein complex that regulates the voltage-gated potassium channel Kv1.5.

The targeting of ion channels to particular membrane microdomains and their organization in macromolecular complexes allow excitable cells to respond efficiently to extracellular signals. In this study, we describe the formation of a complex that contains two scaffolding proteins: caveolin-3 (Cav-3) and a membrane-associated guanylate kinase (MAGUK), SAP97. Complex formation involves the association of Cav-3 with a segment of SAP97 localized between its PDZ2 and PDZ3 domains.