APPW2025

Oranizers :Hiroko Izumi-Nakaseko (Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Toho University) and Tomoe Y. Nakamura-Nishitani (Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Wakayama Medical University)

Responsiveness to diverse endogenous and exogenous stimuli is essential to maintain homeostasis in the body, and ion channels play a pivotal role in this process. For example, they generate and coordinate fundamental responses including nerve excitability, muscle contraction and its beating rhythms, and secretion; and their dysfunction can be the cause of many diseases. However, the current understanding of ion channels has been still limited in the area of the necessary and sufficient conditions for development of ion channel-mediated diseases, the effects of post-translational modifications, and specific drugs suitable for therapy. In this symposium, we will present the latest findings on novel physiological functions and regulatory mechanisms of some ion channels, as well as their pathological roles and therapeutic strategies in the cases of their structural and/or functional failure. Specifically, we will address ion channel modifications involved in synchrony of myocardial contraction and excitation conduction, atherosclerosis and osteogenesis, and comprehensive drug discovery for these channels. Integrated understanding through their anatomical, physiological, and pharmacological analyses could provide novel prophylactic and therapeutic strategies for the diseases.