氯通道:在心脏中起何作用?

Cl- channels: what role do they play in mammalian heart?

在心脏中发现氯通道已有十余年,目前已知氯通道是一类成员较多的离子通道超家族。心肌氯通道的作用可能是多重的,由于阻断氯通道或Cl-替代对心肌的电特性产生明显影响,而心肌氯通道的种类和分布又存在明显的种属差异,提示心肌氯通道的主要作用可能在于调控阳离子通道,或为阳离子通道的正常活动提供一个合适的离子环境。因此,研究氯通道与阳离子通道之间的关系可能有重要的生理和病理生理学意义。

Cl^- channel has been identified in heart over more than a decade. It is now known that Cl^- channel is a super-family. The potentially important roles of cardiac Cl^- channels have been emerging. Cardiac Cl^- channels may play multifunctional roles in both physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Since the existence and distribution of cardiac Cl^- channels vary with species and cardiac tissues, and blockade of Cl^- channel with putative Cl^- channel blockers or Cl^- substitution has profound influence on cardiac electrical properties, it appears that the main role of cardiac Cl^- channels may be to modulate cation channels or provide an ionic environment suitable for the activities of cation channels. So, to investigate the relationship between Cl^- channels and cation channels may be of physiological and pathophysiological significance.