Bright future of optical assays for ion channel drug discovery

Ion channels are a key target class for drug discovery. The introduction of new and optimized optical probes, including fluorescent protein-based calcium sensors, luminescent photoproteins, voltage-sensitive probes and ion indicators, allows tackling a wide variety of ion channel targets. To make optical assays more physiologically relevant, tools to control the conformational states of ion channels via manipulation of the membrane potential have to be developed. There is no doubt that progress in optical methods will streamline the ion channel drug discovery process.