Atrial fibrillation: Targeted drug therapy approach discovered for the first time

When the heart gets out of rhythm, characteristic processes occur in the heart muscle cells. Among other things, the currents of electrically charged particles (ions) change. In chronic atrial fibrillation, one of these currents is reduced. Dr. Cristina Molina from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) has discovered which protein is responsible for this. This provides a new and, for the first time, targeted target for drug therapies against atrial fibrillation.