Neurodegenerative Disease: What Potential Therapeutic Role of Acid-Sensing Ion Channels?

Dalila Mango; Robert Nisticò

doi:10.3389/fncel.2021.730641

Neurodegenerative Disease: What Potential Therapeutic Role of Acid-Sensing Ion Channels?

Front Cell Neurosci. 2021 Oct 8:15:730641. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2021.730641. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Dalila Mango^{1

2}, Robert Nisticò^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Pharmacology of Synaptic Plasticity, European Brain Research Institute, Rome, Italy.
² School of Pharmacy, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy.

Abstract

Acidic pH shift occurs in many physiological neuronal activities such as synaptic transmission and synaptic plasticity but also represents a characteristic feature of many pathological conditions including inflammation and ischemia. Neuroinflammation is a complex process that occurs in various neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and Huntington's disease. Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) represent a widely expressed pH sensor in the brain that play a key role in neuroinflammation. On this basis, acid-sensing ion channel blockers are able to exert neuroprotective effects in different neurodegenerative diseases. In this review, we discuss the multifaceted roles of ASICs in brain physiology and pathology and highlight ASIC1a as a potential pharmacological target in neurodegenerative diseases.

Keywords: ASIC1a; acidosis; neurodegenerative disease; neuroinflammation; pH shift.

Publication types

Review