Homeostatic control of cardiac excitability by an RNA-based mechanism

Abstract

Coordinated activity of ion channels in the human heart is essential for normal cardiac function and preventing life-threatening arrhythmias. We previously reported a cotranslational interaction between KCNH2 and SCN5A transcripts respectively encoding the human ERG (hERG) potassium channel and Nav1.5 sodium channel. In addition to their association during biogenesis, these transcripts and the corresponding membrane currents are also subject to a curious co-knockdown effect elicited by selective RNAi of either transcript.