ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 24 February 2017 doi: 10.3389/fphar.2017.00085 Restoration of Epithelial Sodium Channel Function by Synthetic Peptides in Pseudohypoaldosteronism Type 1B Mutants Anita Willam 1*, Mohammed Aufy 1, Susan Tzotzos 2, Heinrich Evanzin 1, Sabine Chytracek 1, Sabrina Geppert 1, Bernhard Fischer 2, Hendrik Fischer 2, Helmut Pietschmann 2, Istvan Czikora 3, Rudolf Lucas 3, Rosa Lemmens-Gruber 1 and Waheed Shabbir 1, 2 1 Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, 2 APEPTICO GmbH, Vienna, Austria, 3 Vascular Biology Center, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, USA Edited by: The synthetically produced cyclic peptides solnatide (a.k.a. TIP or AP301) and its Gildas Loussouarn, congener AP318, whose molecular structures mimic the lectin-like domain of human University of Nantes, France tumor necrosis factor (TNF), have been shown to activate the epithelial sodium Reviewed by: channel (ENaC) in various cell- and animal-based studies. Loss-of-ENaC-function Stephan Kellenberger, University of Lausanne, Switzerland leads to a rare, life-threatening, salt-wasting syndrome, pseudohypoaldosteronism type Yoshinori Marunaka, 1B (PHA1B), which presents with failure to thrive, dehydration, low blood pressure, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Japan anorexia and vomiting; hyperkalemia, hyponatremia and metabolic acidosis suggest *Correspondence: hypoaldosteronism, but plasma aldosterone and renin activity are high. The aim of Anita Willam the present study was to investigate whether the ENaC-activating effect of solnatide
[email protected] and AP318 could rescue loss-of-function phenotype of ENaC carrying mutations at + Specialty section: conserved amino acid positions observed to cause PHA1B.