L-Type Calcium Channels: Structure and Functions

Abstract

Voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) manage the electrical signaling of cells by allowing the selective-diffusion of calcium ions in response to the changes in the cellular membrane potential. Among the different VGCCs, the long-lasting or the L-type calcium channels (LTCCs) are prevalently expressed in a variety of cells, such as skeletal muscle, ventricular myocytes, smooth muscles and dendritic cells and forms the largest family of the VGCCs. Their wide expression pattern and significant role in diverse cellular events, including neurotransmission, cell cycle, muscular contraction, cardiac action potential and gene expression, has made these channels the major targets for drug development. In this book chapter, we aim to provide a comprehensive overview of the different VGCCs and focus on the sequence-structure–function properties of the LTCCs. Our chapter will summarize and review the various experimental and computational analyses performed on the structures of the LTCCs and their implications in drug discovery applications.