Back to your search result

Description

ATP-sensitive inward rectifier potassium channel 11 (UniProt Q14654, also known as IKATP, Inward rectifier K(+) channel Kir6.2, Potassium channel, inwardly rectifying subfamily J member 11) is encoded by the KCNJ11 (also known as BIR, HHF2, MODY13, PNDM, TNDM3) gene (Gene ID 3767) in human. Inward rectifier K+ channels (Kirs) modulate cell membrane potential and are classified as K+ transport channels (Kir1.x, Kir4.x, Kir5.x, Kir7.x), classic Kir (Kir2.x), G-protein-gated Kirs (Kir2.x and Kir3.x), and ATP-sensitive Kirs (Kir6.x). Kirs mediate diverse physiological functions of both excitable and nonexcitable epithelial cells, such as cell adhesion-migration, volume regulation, apoptosis, and proliferation. ATP-sensitive potassium (K-ATP) channels are hetero-octamers composed of pore-forming Kir6.x (6.1 or 6.2) subunits and sulfonylurea receptor (SUR1 or SUR2) regulatory subunits. K-ATP channels are regulated by intracellular ATP and ADP concentrations and are highly expressed in cardiomyocytes, where they play crucial roles in ischemic preconditioning (IPC). Potassium channel openers mimic the cardioprotection, while K-ATP channel blocker or Kir6.2-knockout is shown to abolish the effect of IPC in mice. Human Kir6.2 is a 390-amino acid multi-pass membrane (a.a. 69-93, 117-128, 145-166) protein that contains two small extraceullar regions (a.a. 94-116 and 136-144) and a pore-forming domain (a.a. 117-128), having both its N- and C-terminal exposed intracellularly (a.a. 1-68 and a.a. 167-390).