The role of TREK-1 in cerebrovascular regulation remains elusive: focus on Cerebrovascular responses in mice deficient in the potassium channel, TREK-1

摘要

Potassium (K~+) channels in the endothelium and vascular smooth muscle are important to regulation of vascular tone (5, 8). The K~+ channel, TREK-1, a member of the recently identified family of two-pore domain K~+ channels, is highly expressed in vascular tissues. In particular, TREK-1 channels are abundant in the endothelium of cerebral vascular tissue (1-3). The substantial presence of TREK-1 channels in cere-brovascular endothelium may have important implications for regulation of cerebral vascular reactivity and regulation of cerebral blood flow under both normal and pathophysiological conditions. In a study described in their manuscript entitled, "Cerebrovascular responses in mice deficient in the potassium channel, TREK-1," Namiranian et al. (7) developed a murine knockout of the TREK-1 channel to determine its role in regulation of cerebral vasomotor tone. Although these authors hypothesized that TREK-1 is involved in control of arterial diameter, they did not find evidence to indicate that deletion of TREK-1 results in altered cerebrovascular function (7).