VOLTAGE-GATED CALCIUM CHANNELS ARE NOT AFFECTED BY THE NOVEL ANTI-EPILEPTIC DRUG LACOSAMIDE.

The novel anti-epileptic drug lacosamide targets two proteins - voltage-gated sodium channels and collapsin response mediator protein 2 (CRMP-2) - suggesting dual modes of action for lacosamide. We recently identified the neurite outgrowth and axonal guidance protein CRMP-2 as a novel partner and regulator of the presynaptic N-type voltage-gated Ca(2+) channel (CaV2.2) [Brittain et al., J. Biol. Chem. 284: 31375-31390 (2009)]. Here we examined the effects of lacosamide on voltage-gated Ba(2+) channels. Lacosamide did not affect Ba(2+) currents via N- and P/Q- channels in rat hippocampal neurons or L-type Ca(2+) channels in a mouse CNS neuronal cell line, respectively. N-type Ba(2+) currents, augmented by CRMP-2 expression, were also unaffected by acute or chronic lacosamide exposure. These results establish that the anti-epileptic mode of action of lacosamide does not involve these voltage-gated Ca(2+) channels.