Intermediate conductance, Ca²⁺-activated K⁺ channels: a novel target for chronic renal diseases

Abstract

Renal failure is a medical condition in which the kidneys are not working properly. There are two types of kidney failure: 1) acute kidney failure, which is sudden and often reversible with adequate treatment; and 2) chronic renal failure, which develops slowly and often is not reversible. The last stage of chronic renal failure is fatal without dialysis or kidney transplant. The treatment for chronic renal failure is focusing on slowing the progression of kidney damage. Several reports have described a promising approach to slow the loss of renal function through inhibition of the basolateral membrane, Ca²⁺-activated K⁺ (KCa3.1) channel with a selective and nontoxic blocker TRAM-34. This review summarizes pathophysiological studies that describe the role of KCa3.1 in kidney diseases.

Keywords

Ca²⁺-activated K⁺ channels / KCa3.1 / renal fibrosis / polycystic kidney disease / diabetes nephropathy / transplant / cell proliferation / Cl^- secretion / renal failure

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Compliance with ethics guidelines

Dr. Bertuccio and Dr. Devor declare that they have no conclict of interest. This manuscript is a review article and does not involve a research protocol requiring approval by the relevant institutional review board or ethics committee.

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