Papers of the Week

Voltage-gated sodium channels initiate action potentials in nerve, skeletal muscle, and other electrically excitable cells. Mutations in them cause a wide range of diseases. These channelopathy mutations affect every aspect of sodium channel function, including voltage sensing, voltage-dependent activation, ion conductance, fast and slow inactivation, and both biosynthesis and assembly. Mutations that cause different forms of periodic paralysis in skeletal muscle were discovered first and have provided a template for understanding structure, function, and pathophysiology at the molecular level. More recent work has revealed multiple sodium channelopathies in the brain. Here we review the well-characterized genetics and pathophysiology of the periodic paralyses of skeletal muscle, and then use this information as a foundation for advancing our understanding of mutations in the structurally homologous a subunits of brain sodium channels that cause epilepsy, migraine, autism, and related co-morbidities. We include studies based on molecular and structural biology, cell biology and physiology, pharmacology, and mouse genetics. Our review reveals unexpected connections among these different types of sodium channelopathies.