Treatment of ischemia

1. A method of identifying a candidate drug for treating acidosis-induced neuronal injury, comprising:

(a) contacting a cultured cell that expresses human acid sensing ion channel 1a (ASIC1a) with a test compound;

(b) detecting a Ca 2+ flux into the cultured cell and into an untreated control cell;

(c) comparing the extent of Ca 2+ flux into the cultured cell with the Ca 2+ flux into the control cell;

(d) determining if the test compound reduces Ca 2+ flux into the cultured cell relative to the control cell based on the results of (c); and

(e) identifying the test compound as a candidate compound for testing in a subject with acidosis-induced neuronal injury if the test compound is found to reduce Ca 2+ flux into the cultured cell relative to the control cell.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

(f) testing the candidate compound identified based on the results of step (e) in an subject with acidosis-induced neuronal injury, wherein the candidate compound is a drug for treating acidosis-induced neuronal injury if it is found to reduce acidosis-induced neuronal injury in the subject.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of detecting Ca 2+ flux is performed electrophysiologically, with 1) a Ca 2+ sensitive dye, 2) a dye that is sensitive to membrane potential or 3) a combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of testing the candidate compound in a subject with acidosis-induced neuronal injury includes steps of (1) inducing acidosis-induced neuronal injury in a test animal and a control animal, (2) administering the candidate compound to said test animal, and (3) comparing the extent of acidosis-induced neuronal injury in said test animal relative to said control animal.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the step of inducing acid-induced neuronal injury includes a step of altering blood flow through a cerebral artery of the animal.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of testing the candidate compound in the subject with acidosis-induced neuronal injury includes steps of: (1) a step of selecting a human test subject and a human control subject, each of which have had a stroke, (2) administering the candidate compound to the human test subject (3) comparing the extent of acid-induced neuronal injury in said human test subject relative to said human control subject.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of detecting Ca 2+ flux comprises a gene-based reporter system that is sensitive to intracellular Ca 2+ concentrations.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the Ca 2+ fluxes in step (b) is measured after at least one hour of oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD).