Cardiac voltage-gated calcium channel macromolecular complexes

Over the past 20 years, a new field of research, called channelopathies, investigating diseases caused by ion channel dysfunction has emerged. Cardiac ion channels play an essential role in the generation of the cardiac action potential. Investigators have largely determined the physiological roles of different cardiac ion channels, but little is known about the molecular determinants of their regulation. The voltage-gated calcium channel Cav1.2 shapes the plateau phase of the cardiac action potential and allows the influx of calcium leading to cardiomyocyte contraction. Studies suggest that the regulation of Cav1.2 channels is not uniform in working cardiomyocytes. The notion of micro-domains containing Cav1.2 channels and different calcium channel interacting proteins, called macro-molecular complex, has been proposed to explain these observations. The objective of this review is to summarize the currently known information on the Cav1.2 macromolecular complexes in the cardiac cell and discuss their implication in cardiac function and disorder. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Cardiomyocyte Biology: Integration of Developmental and Environmental Cues in the Heart edited by Marcus Schaub and Hughes Abriel.