Discoveries at Queen's May Lead to Breakthroughs in the Cure of Major Diseases

Reinhold Penner, MD, PhD, and Andrea Fleig, PhD

Discoveries at the molecular level of cells made at the Center for Biomedical Research at The Queen's Medical Center may lead to the successful management or cure to major diseases, including heart disease, stroke, allergies and diabetes. The work of Reinhold Penner, MD, PhD, Andrea Fleig, PhD, and other Queen's researchers was published in the journal Cell (Vol. 109, 397-407, May 3, 2002), the most prestigious biological science journal in the world.

"Humans and animals are highly complex organisms made up of organs, such as the heart, the brain or the liver," explains Penner, attempting to pinpoint the focus of his research. "Each organ is composed of smaller units called cells-like neurons of the brain that store our memories or muscle cells that contract the heart." Cells are isolated against each other, he continues, by plasma membranes, but they constantly "talk" to each other. Part of this communication is accomplished with charged ions (such as those of sodium, calcium and magnesium), which must pass into the cell across the plasma membrane via "ion channels." These ion channels are like little doors that open and close when cells communicate with each other. The QCBR paper in Cell describes the discovery of a previously unknown ion channel called TRPM4, which plays an important role in brain and heart cells. The malfunction of channels and the influx of various ions through these channels have been associated with disease.

The ultimate goal is to find drugs that will inhibit or stimulate the activity of ion channels to possibly stop, reverse or manage diseases. QCBR has been experimenting with many drugs and whole libraries of compounds. This area of research is one of the most promising in terms of curing or influencing the outcome of many major diseases.