Protein / target
Potassium channel subfamily K member 3
Protein at a glance
Biological role
Outward rectifier potassium channel activity
Primary system
Nervous system
Strongest disease association
pulmonary hypertension, primary, 4
Therapeutic maturity
Clinically validated target
Druggability
Small molecule
Clinical development
7 approved
Derived from structured UniProt, Open Targets and literature data on this page.
Protein profile
Canonical identity and biological annotation from UniProt.
Function
K(+) channel that conducts voltage-dependent outward rectifying currents upon membrane depolarization. Voltage sensing is coupled to K(+) electrochemical gradient in an 'ion flux gating' mode where outward but not inward ion flow opens the gate (PubMed:23169818, PubMed:26919430, PubMed:32499642, PubMed:36195757, PubMed:9312005). Changes ion selectivity and becomes permeable to Na(+) ions in response to extracellular acidification. Protonation of the pH sensor His-98 stabilizes C-type inactivation conformation likely converting the channel from outward K(+)-conducting, to inward Na(+)-conducting to nonconductive state (PubMed:22948150). Homo- and heterodimerizes to form functional channels with distinct regulatory and gating properties (PubMed:23169818, PubMed:32499642). Allows K(+) currents with fast-gating kinetics important for the repolarization and hyperpolarization phases of action potentials (By similarity). In cerebellar granule cells, heteromeric KCNK3:KCNK9 channel may hyperpolarize the resting membrane potential to limit intrinsic neuronal excitability, but once the action potential threshold is reached, it may support high-frequency action potential firing and increased neuronal excitability (By similarity). Dispensable for central chemosensory respiration i.e. breathing controlled by brainstem CO2/pH, it rather conducts pH-sensitive currents and controls the firing rate of serotonergic raphe neurons involved in potentiation of the respiratory chemoreflex. Additionally, imparts chemosensitivity to type 1 cells in carotid bodies which respond to a decrease in arterial oxygen pressure or an increase in carbon dioxide pressure or pH to initiate adaptive changes in pulmonary ventilation (By similarity). In adrenal gland, contributes to the maintenance of a hyperpolarized resting membrane potential of aldosterone-producing cells at zona glomerulosa and limits aldosterone release as part of a regulatory mechanism that controls arterial blood pressure and electrolyte homeostasis (By similarity). In brown adipocytes, mediates K(+) efflux that counteracts norepinephrine-induced membrane depolarization, limits Ca(2+) efflux and downstream cAMP and PKA signaling, ultimately attenuating lipid oxidation and adaptive thermogenesis (By similarity)
Subcellular location
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (24)Hide
Gene Ontology
- Cplasma membrane
- Csynapse
- Fmetal ion binding
- Fmonoatomic ion channel activity
- Fopen rectifier potassium channel activity
- Foutward rectifier potassium channel activity
- Fpotassium channel activity
- Fpotassium ion leak channel activity
- Fprotein heterodimerization activity
- FS100 protein binding
- Fsodium channel activity
- Pcellular response to acidic pH
Biological roles
What this protein does, drawn together from its UniProt function, Gene Ontology terms and Reactome pathways.
View supporting evidenceHide supporting evidence
Ion channel gating
- ·monoatomic ion channel activity
- ·monoatomic ion transmembrane transport
- ·potassium ion transmembrane transport
Synaptic signalling
- ·synapse
- ·chemical synaptic transmission
View underlying pathways (2)Hide underlying pathways
Concepts derived from UniProt GO Reactome — each badge above shows which sources supported that role.
Interaction neighbourhood
Proteins with the strongest functional or physical association. Node size and line weight reflect STRING confidence; hover or select a partner to inspect one association.
Functional and physical associations from STRING v12.0. Only associations with this protein are drawn — partner-to-partner links are not part of this evidence.
Drugs targeting this protein
Whether each drug engages this protein directly or through a complex, and how many other targets are recorded for it. Direct binders with few recorded targets are listed first.
Potassium channel subfamily K member 3 opener
Appears in clinical studies involving kidney injury, Hydrocephalus, delirium, sedation
Potassium channel subfamily K member 3 opener
Appears in clinical studies involving septic shock, Sepsis
Potassium channel subfamily K member 3 opener
Appears in clinical studies involving endometrial cancer, myocardial infarction, sedation, delirium
ChEMBL mechanism, action type and target identity. Open Targets clinical status and indications.
Translational evidence
Why this target matters therapeutically — disease associations, drugs in development, tractability and safety, from Open Targets.
Strongest genetic associations
Human genetic evidence — the most direct causal link between this target and a disease.
Highest-confidence therapeutic associations
Diseases where a drug acting on this target has already reached clinical development.
Highest overall evidence
Remaining associations by Open Targets' aggregated evidence score.
Show all associationsHide all associations
Open Targets ranks 410 associations for this target and we store the top 10 by aggregated score. The long tail is largely literature co-mention and RNA-expression evidence, not evidence that this target drives those diseases.
Known drugs · 7 total
septic shock · Sepsis
endometrial cancer · myocardial infarction · sedation
Intellectual disability · cognitive disorder · delirium
septic shock · Sepsis
respiratory system disorder · respiratory system disorder · Hypoxemia
lung disorder
kidney injury · Hydrocephalus · delirium
Tractability
Clinical trials
Trials of drugs that target this protein — reached indirectly through those drugs, so a trial listed here studies the drug, not the protein.
Show remaining trials (24)Hide
ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.
Forefront confidence
Our own weighting of the evidence behind each disease association. Human genetics and clinical evidence count for most; literature co-mention counts for little, because two entities sharing an abstract is not evidence that one drives the other.
The evidence agreement range shows how closely the independent evidence families agree — it is not a statistical confidence interval, and nothing here is fitted to outcome data. Derived from Open Targets evidence types under Forefront weighting; the underlying per-type scores are shown above so the calculation can be checked.
What's happening now
Recent activity around this target, drawn from one canonical event stream. Every item is reached through 3 drugs that target this protein, so each event is news about that drug rather than about the protein directly.
- New publicationNeonatal sevoflurane exposures inhibits DHHC5-mediated palmitoylation of TfR1 in oligodendrocytes, leading to hypomyelination and neurological impairments.
- New publicationEarly exposure to common anesthetic agents causes widespread neurodegeneration in the developing rat brain and persistent learning deficits.
- New publicationSharp wave-associated high-frequency oscillation (200 Hz) in the intact hippocampus: network and intracellular mechanisms.
Objective event titles are shown unmodified; the event kind and significance line are derived from structured fields. Forefront AttentionEvent stream aggregating Europe PMC Regulatory filings ClinicalTrials.gov.