A new pROM king for the mitoK(ATP) dance: ROMK takes the lead.

Ischemic heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the developed world, and mechanisms to reduce cardiac ischemic damage are being actively investigated. A potent protective mechanism for the heart is ischemic preconditioning (IPC), a phenomenon in which brief ischemic episodes protect the heart from tissue damage and cell death resulting from subsequent periods of ischemia and reperfusion.1 The precise molecular mechanisms at play during IPC are not known, but the opening of a mitochondrial ATP-sensitive potassium channel, mitoKATP, is believed to be necessary for IPC-induced activation of several prosurvival pathways and processes.2