Acid-Sensing Ion Channel (ASIC)

Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) are a family of voltage-insensitive, proton-gated cation channels that are primarily activated by extracellular acidification (a drop in pH). They are members of the degenerin/epithelial sodium channel (DEG/ENaC) superfamily and play critical roles in both physiological and pathophysiological processes, especially within the nervous system. They assemble as trimeric complexes composed of subunits with two transmembrane domains and a large extracellular loop. There are six main isoforms encoded by four genes: ASIC1a, ASIC1b, ASIC2a, ASIC2b, ASIC3, and ASIC4. ASICs are widely expressed throughout the central and peripheral nervous systems, as well as in non-neuronal tissues. They are involved in diverse processes including pain sensation, mechanotransduction, synaptic plasticity, and learning/memory. Dysregulation is implicated in conditions such as ischemic cell death, making them drug targets.

Inhibition of specific channel states