PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - A. D. Wickenden AU - J. L. Krajewski AU - B. London AU - P. K. Wagoner AU - W. A. Wilson AU - S. Clark AU - R. Roeloffs AU - G. McNaughton-Smith AU - G. C. Rigdon TI - <em>N</em>-(6-Chloro-pyridin-3-yl)-3,4-difluoro-benzamide (ICA-27243): A Novel, Selective KCNQ2/Q3 Potassium Channel Activator AID - 10.1124/mol.107.043216 DP - 2008 Mar 01 TA - Molecular Pharmacology PG - 977--986 VI - 73 IP - 3 4099 - http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/73/3/977.short 4100 - http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/73/3/977.full SO - Mol Pharmacol2008 Mar 01; 73 AB - KCNQ2 (Kv7.2) and KCNQ3 (Kv7.3) are voltage-gated K+ channel subunits that underlie the neuronal M current. In humans, mutations in these genes lead to a rare form of neonatal epilepsy (Biervert et al., 1998; Singh et al., 1998), suggesting that KCNQ2/Q3 channels may be attractive targets for novel antiepileptic drugs. In the present study, we have identified the compound N-(6-chloro-pyridin-3-yl)-3,4-difluoro-benzamide (ICA-27243) as a selective activator of the neuronal M current and KCNQ2/Q3 channels. In SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells, ICA-27243 produced membrane potential hyperpolarization that could be prevented by coadministration with the M-current inhibitors 10,10-bis(4-pyridinylmethyl)-9(10H)-anthracenone dihydrochloride (XE-991) and linopirdine. ICA-27243 enhanced both 86Rb+ efflux (EC50 = 0.2 μM) and whole-cell currents in Chinese hamster ovary cells stably expressing heteromultimeric KCNQ2/Q3 channels (EC50 = 0.4 μM). Activation of KCNQ2/Q3 channels was associated with a hyperpolarizing shift of the voltage dependence of channel activation (V½ shift of -19 mV at 10 μM). In contrast, ICA-27243 was less effective at activating KCNQ4 and KCNQ3/Q5 and was selective over a wide range of neurotransmitter receptors and ion channels such as voltage-dependent sodium channels and GABA-gated chloride channels. ICA-27243 (1-10 μM) was found to reversibly suppress seizure-like activity in an ex vivo hippocampal slice model of epilepsy and demonstrated in vivo anticonvulsant activity (ED50 = 8.4 mg/kg) in the mouse maximal electroshock epilepsy model. In conclusion, ICA-27243 represents the first member of a novel chemical class of selective KCNQ2/Q3 activators with anticonvulsant-like activity in experimental models of epilepsy. The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics