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Insights into hERG K+ channel structure and function from NMR studies

Chai Ann Ng1, Allan M Torres, Guilhem Pagès

  • 1Mark Cowley Lidwill Research Programme in Cardiac Electrophysiology, Molecular Cardiology and Biophysics Division, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, 405 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst, NSW, 2010, Australia. a.ng@victorchang.edu.au

European Biophysics Journal : EBJ
|May 4, 2012
PubMed

The unique gating kinetics of hERG K(+) channels are critical for normal cardiac repolarization, and patients with mutations in hERG have a markedly increased risk of cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac arrest. HERG K(+) channels are also remarkably promiscuous with respect to drug binding, which has been a very significant problem for the pharmaceutical industry. Here, we review the progress that has been made in understanding the structure and function of hERG K(+) channels with a particular focus on nuclear magnetic resonance studies of the domains of the hERG K(+) channel.

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