Role and functions of HCN channels in nervous system with complicated modulations / 中国药理学与毒理学杂志

ABSTRACT

Hyperpolarization-activated and cyclic nucleotide-gated(HCN)channels which are distributed in a variety of tissues including excitable cells such as heart cells and different neurons have important functions in the control of heart rate and neuronal excitability. Unlike the typical potassium channels and sodium channels,HCN channels can evoke inward currents while the membrane potential is hyper-polarized. Some studies have discovered that HCN channels were important for the nervous system, due to their special electrophysiological features and regulatory effects on the cellular membrane excit-ability.HCN channels are modulated by such factors such as extracellular molecules and intracellular sig-naling cascades, which make their functions quite special in the brain. Given their role, HCN channels seem to be promising targets for specific brain disease as well as chronic pain.In this review,we focus on the roles and functions of HCN channels with their complex modulator factors and neural activity.