Referenced in: none

Automatically associated channels: SK3

Title: A piece in the puzzle: an ion channel candidate gene for schizophrenia.

Authors: J J Gargus, E Fantino, G A Gutman

Journal, date & volume: , 1998 Dec , 4, 518-24

PubMed link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9866821

Abstract
Mutations in ion channels have been found to cause a variety of mendelian genetic diseases, and polyglutamine repeat expansion is a newly recognized pathogenic mechanism that causes several rare, genetic, late-onset neurological syndromes. Polymorphic polyglutamine tracts are present in a recently described human, calcium-activated potassium channel, KCNN3 (also known as hKCa3), and alleles of this gene that contain longer repeats have been associated with schizophrenia. The physiological function of the channel is consistent with an etiological role in this disease; drugs designed to target this channel might therefore provide novel psychotherapeutics.