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Updated: Jun 15, 2026
Determination of the Relative Cell Surface and Total Expression of Recombinant Ion Channels Using Flow Cytometry
Published on: September 28, 2016
Sodium channelopathies of skeletal muscle result from gain or loss of function
Karin Jurkat-Rott1, Boris Holzherr, Michael Fauler
1Institute of Applied Physiology, Ulm University, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89081, Ulm, Germany.
Abstract:
Five hereditary sodium channelopathies of skeletal muscle have been identified. Prominent symptoms are either myotonia or weakness caused by an increase or decrease of muscle fiber excitability. The voltage-gated sodium channel NaV1.4, initiator of the muscle action potential, is mutated in all five disorders. Pathogenetically, both loss and gain of function mutations have been described, the latter being the more frequent mechanism and involving not just the ion-conducting pore, but aberrant pores as well. The type of channel malfunction is decisive for therapy which consists either of exerting a direct effect on the sodium channel, i.e., by blocking the pore, or of restoring skeletal muscle membrane potential to reduce the fraction of inactivated channels.
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