This Research Topic is part of a successful Community Series following
ASICs: Structure, Function, and Pharmacology, Volume I. ASICs are trimeric cation‐selective ion channels activated by changes in pH within the physiological range. ASICs have gained relevance from the demonstration of their role in sensory processes in the visual system, hearing, balance, touch, nociception, olfaction, and taste, in addition to their important participation in synaptic transmission. and establishment of neuronal excitability in the nervous system. Extracellular acidification occurs in pathological situations, such as inflammation and brain ischemia, as well as under normal physiological conditions, such as neuronal activity and synaptic transmission. ASICs are widely expressed in the organisms and there are at least seven isoforms of the ASICs (1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3, 4, and 5) derived from five ACCN1-5 genes. Studies of homomeric channels show that ASIC isoforms have important differences in the affinity for protons, and in their pharmacology, thus creating a range of possible modulatory processes mediated by the ASICs and of pharmacology potential targets for modulating ASICs function.
This Research Topic on ASICs structure, function, and pharmacology may present the advances in the basic research on ASICs, its involvement in pathology and potential translational research on pharmacological modulation of ASICs. Given its wide expression, ASICs participate in diverse physiological and pathological processes. This collection intends to give a unified view of the advances in the understanding of ASIC structure biophysics and pharmacology and their potential as targets for pharmacological modulation.
We welcome submissions related to but not limited to the following sub-topics:
• Molecular structure of ASICs
• Biophysical properties of ASICs
• General Pharmacology of ASICs
• Functional role of ASICs
• Role of ASICs in sensory processes
• Role of ASICs in pathological disorders (inflammation, pain and nociception, neurodegeneration, hypertension, and others).
• Biotoxins and ASICs
• ASICs and cognitive processes