KCNQ genes encode family members of the Kv7 potassium channel family. These include Kv7.1 (KCNQ1) - KvLQT1, Kv7.2 (KCNQ2), Kv7.3 (KCNQ3), Kv7.4 (KCNQ4), and Kv7.5 (KCNQ5). Four of these (KCNQ2-5) are expressed in the nervous system. They constitute a group of low-threshold voltage-gated K+ channels originally termed the ‘M-channel’ (see M-current). The M-channel name comes from the classically described mechanism wherein the activation of the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor deactivated this channel.[1]

References

  1. ^ Brown, David A; Passmore, Gayle M (April 2009). "Neural KCNQ (Kv7) channels". British Journal of Pharmacology. 156 (8): 1185–1195. doi:10.1111/j.1476-5381.2009.00111.x. ISSN 0007-1188. PMC 2697739. PMID 19298256.


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