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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pharmacol.

Sec. Pharmacology of Ion Channels and Channelopathies

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1655406

This article is part of the Research TopicExploring the Pharmacological Modulation of Potassium Channels: Implications for Channelopathies and Therapeutic InnovationsView all articles

Inhibition of the oncogenic channel Kv10.1 by the antipsychotic drug penfluridol

Provisionally accepted
Paulina León-SánchezPaulina León-Sánchez1Andrea Lizeth Cedillo-HernándezAndrea Lizeth Cedillo-Hernández1MARIA LUISA DURAN-PASTENMARIA LUISA DURAN-PASTEN1Cesar Oliver Lara-FigueroaCesar Oliver Lara-Figueroa1Arturo Hernandez-CruzArturo Hernandez-Cruz1Enoch LuisEnoch Luis1,2*
  • 1Laboratorio Nacional de Canalopatías, Mexico City, Mexico
  • 2National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT), Benito Juárez, Mexico

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Drug repurposing is an increasingly recognized strategy in pharmaceutical development that focuses on identifying new therapeutic uses for already approved drugs, as an alternative to the time-consuming and costly process of developing new molecular entities. This approach has gained traction in oncology, especially in exploring the anticancer potential of non-oncologic agents. In recent years, the antipsychotic drug penfluridol (PNFL) has been identified as having antitumoral properties; however, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. We hypothesized that PNFL may exert its effects by inhibiting the oncogenic potassium channel Kv10.1. Our results demonstrate that PNFL inhibits Kv10.1 activity and reduces cell migration in HEK-Kv10.1 cells. These findings suggest a novel mechanism that may contribute to the drug's antitumoral effects.

Keywords: Penfluridol1, Kv10.1 channel2, carcinogenesis3, oncogenic channel4, antipsychotic5

Received: 27 Jun 2025; Accepted: 14 Aug 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 León-Sánchez, Cedillo-Hernández, DURAN-PASTEN, Lara-Figueroa, Hernandez-Cruz and Luis. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Enoch Luis, National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT), Benito Juárez, Mexico

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material