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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Single-Cell Calcium Imaging for Studying the Activation of Calcium Ion Channels
Published on: December 13, 2024
Targeting N-type and T-type calcium channels for the treatment of pain
1Department of HTS-Molecular Pharmacology, Amgen, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320, USA. mcgivern@amgen.com
Abstract:
Severe chronic pain afflicts a large number of people worldwide but satisfactory relief from such pain is difficult to achieve with drugs that are currently available, and so there is a great need for the development of new, efficacious and safe analgesics. Voltage-gated calcium-permeable ion channels are multi-subunit complexes that regulate neuronal excitability, action-potential firing patterns and neurotransmission in nociceptive pathways. Although multiple subtypes of voltage-gated calcium channels exist, pharmacological and ion-channel gene knockdown approaches in animals have revealed N-type and T-type calcium channels to be particularly attractive molecular targets for the discovery and development of new analgesic drugs. The recent approval of Prialt (Elan Pharmaceuticals) provides the ultimate target validation for N-type calcium channels, namely proof that they are key regulators of nociceptive signaling in humans.
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