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Hoffmann, R. A wiki for the life sciences where authorship matters. Nature Genetics (2008)
 
 
 
 
 

Kv1.3 channels are a therapeutic target for T cell-mediated autoimmune diseases.

Autoreactive memory T lymphocytes are implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. Here we demonstrate that disease-associated autoreactive T cells from patients with type-1 diabetes mellitus or rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are mainly CD4(+)CCR7(-)CD45RA(-) effector memory T cells (T(EM) cells) with elevated Kv1.3 potassium channel expression. In contrast, T cells with other antigen specificities from these patients, or autoreactive T cells from healthy individuals and disease controls, express low levels of Kv1.3 and are predominantly na??ve or central-memory (T(CM)) cells. In T(EM) cells, Kv1.3 traffics to the immunological synapse during antigen presentation where it colocalizes with Kvbeta2, SAP97, ZIP, p56(lck), and CD4. Although Kv1.3 inhibitors [ShK(L5)-amide (SL5) and PAP1] do not prevent immunological synapse formation, they suppress Ca(2+)-signaling, cytokine production, and proliferation of autoantigen-specific T(EM) cells at pharmacologically relevant concentrations while sparing other classes of T cells. Kv1.3 inhibitors ameliorate pristane-induced arthritis in rats and reduce the incidence of experimental autoimmune diabetes in diabetes-prone (DP-BB/W) rats. Repeated dosing with Kv1.3 inhibitors in rats has not revealed systemic toxicity. Further development of Kv1.3 blockers for autoimmune disease therapy is warranted.[1]

References

  1. Kv1.3 channels are a therapeutic target for T cell-mediated autoimmune diseases. Beeton, C., Wulff, H., Standifer, N.E., Azam, P., Mullen, K.M., Pennington, M.W., Kolski-Andreaco, A., Wei, E., Grino, A., Counts, D.R., Wang, P.H., Leehealey, C.J., S Andrews, B., Sankaranarayanan, A., Homerick, D., Roeck, W.W., Tehranzadeh, J., Stanhope, K.L., Zimin, P., Havel, P.J., Griffey, S., Knaus, H.G., Nepom, G.T., Gutman, G.A., Calabresi, P.A., Chandy, K.G. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. (2006) [Pubmed]
 
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