Science
Researchers find salt retention channel
San Diego | May 10, 2008 12:01:13 AM IST
A U.S. research team announced development of the first small molecule that can reversibly activate a key protein involved in balancing sodium levels. The scientists, led by Bryan Moyer, principal scientist at Senomyx Inc. in San Diego, said the finding paves the way for drugs that can treat low blood pressure and related conditions. Moyer said the human epithelial sodium channel, or ENaC, controls sodium flow across many tissues and is vital in maintaining proper salt balance and blood pressure. But while there are many drugs that can block over-active sodium channels, which can help treat hypertension and other disorders, no one had found effective ENaC activators. Now Moyer and his colleagues have identified one, called S3969. In studies with both amphibian and human cells, the molecule could increase sodium flow through normal ENaC and restore function to deficient ENaC. Moyer said the sustained, yet reversible, action of S3969 makes it a good model to build future drugs aimed at improving hypotension, neonatal pulmonary edema and renal salt wasting disorders. The study appears online in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. (UPI)
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