Nav1.2

NaV1.2, encoded by SCN2A, is a neuronal voltage-gated sodium channel that supports action-potential initiation and propagation in developing excitatory cortical neurons[1]. Mechanistically, NaV1.2 contributes to axonal excitability during early development, while later studies show roles in dendritic excitability, synaptic strength, and synaptic plasticity in mature pyramidal neurons[2]. In disease models, SCN2A variants associate with autism spectrum disorder, developmental delay, intellectual disability, and epilepsy, with gain-of-function variants linked to infantile seizures and loss-of-function variants linked to autism-related phenotypes[1][3]. Compared with related isoforms, NaV1.2 differs from NaV1.6 because NaV1.6 replaces NaV1.2 in the distal axon initial segment during maturation and has a lower activation threshold[1][2]. NaV1.2 also differs from NaV1.1 because NaV1.2 is robustly expressed in glutamatergic neurons, whereas NaV1.1 is dominantly expressed in parvalbumin-positive GABAergic neurons[3]. For experimental applications, cannabidiol preferentially inhibited resurgent hNaV1.2 current, and GS967 preferentially inhibited persistent hNaV1.2 current in HEK cells expressing wild-type hNaV1.2[4].