Ion Channel Signalling in Cancer: From Molecular Mechanisms to Therapeutics

Mammalian cells express a large number of structurally distinct ion channels on the cell surface and also in the membranes of intracellular organelles. They can selectively permeate ion species (thus named Ca2+, Na+, K+ or Cl− channels according to their selectivity) or a group of positively or negatively charged ions (non-selective cation or anion channels) (Hille, 2001). Their activity is regulated by diverse physical, biochemical or biological stimuli of the microenvironments and, as such, they initial or control important signaling mechanisms involved in a wide range of cellular processes which are critical for cancer development and progression including cell differentiation, proliferation, migration and apoptosis. It comes no surprise that an alteration in ion channel expression and/or activity is causatively associated with manifestation of cancer hallmarks (Hanahan and Weinberg, 2011), leading to the introduction of oncochannels (Huber, 2013). This Research Topic collects 16 review and original research articles, which provide idea provoking insights or new research regarding the role of ion channels in cancer and the concept or efforts of targeting them to treat cancer.