CSB Research Spotlight: Sanders Lab—Promising small molecule may help with sudden cardiac death

Posted by daviskd2 on Thursday, February 5, 2026 in News.

Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is a hereditary or acquired cardiac disorder that affects the electrical system of the heart, which causes a delay in the heart’s repolarization or reset time. This delay means the heart takes longer to reset between beats.

LQTS is a fatal disorder linked to syncope, arrhythmia, and cardiac arrest. Type 1 Long QT syndrome (LQT1) accounts for close to half of congenital LQTS and is caused by loss-of-function mutations in the voltage-gated potassium channel KCNQ1.

The Sanders lab recently investigated whether a small molecule could help these channel proteins work better, with a goal that one day it might help treat long QT syndrome.

Read more about this study on the SBGrid Community News.