Potassium channels as potential drug targets for limb wound repair and regeneration.

Ion channels are a large family of transmembrane proteins, accessible by soluble membrane-impermeable molecules, and thus are targets for development of therapeutic drugs. Ion channels are the second most common target for existing drugs, after G protein-coupled receptors, and are expected to make a big impact on precision medicine in many different diseases including wound repair and regeneration. Research has shown that endogenous bioelectric signaling mediated by ion channels is critical in non-mammalian limb regeneration. However, the role of ion channels in regeneration of limbs in mammalian systems is not yet defined.