Description:

The Department of Pharmacology is excited to welcome Dr. Peter Larsson, Ph.D., Professor, Departments of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Miami

Below is a description of the seminar as described by Dr.Larsson:

One of the major cardiac potassium currents is the slowly activating potassium current IKs that contribute to the action potential termination. Over 300 different inherited mutations have been found in IKs channels that cause cardiac arrhythmias in patients. IKs channels regulate the length of the cardiac contraction and mutations that decreases the activity of IKs channels result in a prolongation of the cardiac contraction, leading to Long QT Syndrome. In turn, Long QT syndrome is a risk factor for ventricular fibrillation and sudden cardiac death. We have recently identified a family of compounds, based on polyunsaturated fatty acids, that activate IKs channels and are antiarrhythmic when applied to cardiomyocytes. This family of compounds shorten the cardiac action potential in human cardio myocytes and in guinea pig hearts. We anticipate that this development of new anti-arrhythmic drugs will lead to better treatments of cardiac arrhythmias and the prevention of sudden cardiac deaths in LQTS patients.