Characterization of an early-diverging KCNE potassium-channel auxiliary subunit in the jawless vertebrate lamprey.
- Open access
Lamprey KCNE0, an early-diverging KCNE family member, induces constitutive KCNQ1 activity, highlighting its unique role in vertebrate ion channel regulation.
- Why it matters: Understanding KCNE subunits in primitive vertebrates fills a crucial gap in evolutionary biology and ion channel function, offering insights into the origins of channel modulation mechanisms.
- What they did: The study characterized the lamprey kcne0 gene, analyzing its sequence, expression, and functional effects on KCNQ1 channels through co-expression experiments and motif modifications.
- The result: Findings reveal KCNE0's ability to activate KCNQ1 constitutively and its modulation differences across species, providing a foundation for comparative studies of KCNE-KCNQ1 interactions in vertebrate evolution.