Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports
5 years ago

Inhibition of CDK5 Alleviates the Cardiac Phenotypes in Timothy Syndrome

Inhibition of CDK5 Alleviates the Cardiac Phenotypes in Timothy Syndrome
L-type calcium channel CaV1.2 plays an essential role in cardiac function. The gain-of-function mutations in CaV1.2 have been reported to be associated with Timothy syndrome, a disease characterized by QT prolongation and syndactyly. Previously we demonstrated that roscovitine, a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor, could rescue the phenotypes in induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes from Timothy syndrome patients. However, exactly how roscovitine rescued the phenotypes remained unclear. Here we report a mechanism potentially underlying the therapeutic effects of roscovitine on Timothy syndrome cardiomyocytes. Our results using roscovitine analogs and CDK inhibitors and constructs demonstrated that roscovitine exhibits its therapeutic effects in part by inhibiting CDK5. The outcomes of this study allowed us to identify a molecular mechanism whereby CaV1.2 channels are regulated by CDK5. This study provides insights into the regulation of cardiac calcium channels and the development of future therapeutics for Timothy syndrome patients.

Graphical abstract

image

Teaser

Yazawa and colleagues report cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5) as a regulator of CaV1.2 channels in cardiomyocytes and a molecular therapeutic target for Timothy syndrome. This study provides insights into the regulation of cardiac calcium channels and the development of future therapeutics for Timothy syndrome patients.

Publisher URL: www.sciencedirect.com/science

DOI: S2213671117302357

You might also like
Discover & Discuss Important Research

Keeping up-to-date with research can feel impossible, with papers being published faster than you'll ever be able to read them. That's where Researcher comes in: we're simplifying discovery and making important discussions happen. With over 19,000 sources, including peer-reviewed journals, preprints, blogs, universities, podcasts and Live events across 10 research areas, you'll never miss what's important to you. It's like social media, but better. Oh, and we should mention - it's free.

  • Download from Google Play
  • Download from App Store
  • Download from AppInChina

Researcher displays publicly available abstracts and doesn’t host any full article content. If the content is open access, we will direct clicks from the abstracts to the publisher website and display the PDF copy on our platform. Clicks to view the full text will be directed to the publisher website, where only users with subscriptions or access through their institution are able to view the full article.