Referenced in: none

Automatically associated channels: Kv1.3

Title: Targeting effector memory T-cells with Kv1.3 blockers.

Authors: Heike Wulff, Michael Pennington

Journal, date & volume: , 2007 Jul , 10, 438-45

PubMed link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17659485

Abstract
After initially being pursued for general immunosuppression, the voltage-gated potassium channel Kv1.3 has more recently emerged as an attractive pharmacological target for the selective suppression of CCR7- effector memory T-cells in T-cell mediated autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. This article gives a brief summary of the role of Kv1.3 in autoimmune diseases, reviews the progress made in both developing peptidic and small-molecule inhibitors for this challenging target, and in validating Kv1.3 as a target for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.