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Protein / target

Voltage-gated potassium channel KCNC3

Encoded byKCNC3Q14003Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
Clinically validated
Therapeutic maturity
5
Approved medicines
Open Targets target-level
View by indication →
30
Clinical trials
Small-molecule tractable
Druggability
Approved Drug

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Delayed rectifier potassium channel

Strongest disease association

Genetic Diseases, Inborn

Via encoding gene KCNC3 · Genetic evidence · score 0.68

Therapeutic position

Established drug target

Small molecules

Derived from structured UniProt, Open Targets and literature data on this page.

Protein profile

UniProt 2026_02

Canonical identity and biological annotation from UniProt.

Function overview

Voltage-gated potassium channel that plays an important role in the rapid repolarization of fast-firing brain neurons.

View complete UniProt function annotation

Voltage-gated potassium channel that plays an important role in the rapid repolarization of fast-firing brain neurons. The channel opens in response to the voltage difference across the membrane, forming a potassium-selective channel through which potassium ions pass in accordance with their electrochemical gradient. The channel displays rapid activation and inactivation kinetics (PubMed:10712820, PubMed:16501573, PubMed:19953606, PubMed:21479265, PubMed:22289912, PubMed:23734863, PubMed:25756792, PubMed:26997484). It plays a role in the regulation of the frequency, shape and duration of action potentials in Purkinje cells. Required for normal survival of cerebellar neurons, probably via its role in regulating the duration and frequency of action potentials that in turn regulate the activity of voltage-gated Ca(2+) channels and cellular Ca(2+) homeostasis (By similarity). Required for normal motor function (PubMed:16501573, PubMed:19953606, PubMed:21479265, PubMed:23734863, PubMed:25756792). Plays a role in the reorganization of the cortical actin cytoskeleton and the formation of actin veil structures in neuronal growth cones via its interaction with HAX1 and the Arp2/3 complex (PubMed:26997484)

Subcellular location

Cell membranePresynaptic cell membranePerikaryonCell projection, axonCell projection, dendriteCell projection, dendritic spine membraneCytoplasm, cell cortexCytoplasm, cytoskeleton
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (21)

Gene Ontology

  • Caxon terminus
  • Ccell cortex
  • Ccytoskeleton
  • Cdendrite
  • Cdendrite membrane
  • Cdendritic spine membrane
  • Cneuronal cell body membrane
  • Cperikaryon
  • Cplasma membrane
  • Cpostsynaptic membrane
  • Cpresynaptic membrane
  • Cvoltage-gated potassium channel complex

757 aa · 81 kDa

Biological roles

What this protein does, drawn together from its UniProt function, Gene Ontology terms and Reactome pathways.

Ion channel gatingGO
View supporting evidence

Ion channel gating

  • ·potassium ion transmembrane transport

Concepts derived from UniProt GO Reactome — each badge above shows which sources supported that role.

Approved medicines with mapped indications

2 medicines · 2 areas

Approved therapies targeting this protein, grouped by what they are approved to treat — the disease-first view of the medicines below. Relationships come from the canonical approved-indication graph (ChEMBL phase-4), the same source as the drug cards.

Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome1 medicine
Multiple Sclerosis1 medicine

5 medicines meet Open Targets' target-level approved-medicine definition; the 2 shown here are those on this page with a canonical approved disease indication in the graph. Approved indications from ChEMBL (phase-4), via the canonical drug→disease graph.

Drugs targeting this protein

2

How approved and investigational drugs engage this protein — mechanism and action type, direct vs complex targeting, and how broadly each acts across other targets. A drug-first view (the section above groups the approved ones disease-first); direct binders with few recorded targets are listed first.

dalfampridine
ApprovedBlocker

Voltage-gated potassium channel blocker

Indicated for Multiple Sclerosis

Acts on a complex — shared with KCNC4, KCNB1, KCNA10 +36 more · 1 of 40 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

amifampridine
ApprovedBlocker

Voltage-gated potassium channel blocker

Indicated for Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome

Acts on a complex — shared with KCNC4, KCNB1, KCNA10 +36 more · 1 of 40 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

ChEMBL mechanism, action type, target identity and approved indications. Open Targets clinical status.

Translational evidence

Open Targets 26

Why this target matters therapeutically, strongest evidence first. Disease associations are gene-level (via the gene that encodes this protein) and open into the full confidence synthesis; the development universe, tractability and safety annotations are target-level, from Open Targets.

Strongest disease associations · via encoding gene KCNC3

Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene KCNC3that encodes this protein — not a direct protein–disease relationship. Ranked by Forefront's causal-directness weighting, so genetically- and clinically-evidenced diseases lead over ones that merely share the literature.

Genetic Diseases, Inborn
0.68Moderately supported

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.42

Cerebellar Ataxia
0.66Moderately supported

Genetic literature evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.44

Neurodegenerative Diseases
0.53Moderately supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.42

View evidence synthesis (3)
Genetic Diseases, InbornModerately supported
0.68
agreement 0.560.80
Genetic100%

Open Targets aggregate 0.42 · 1 independent evidence family

Cerebellar AtaxiaModerately supported
0.66
agreement 0.550.78
Genetic literature58%Clinical38%Literature3%

Open Targets aggregate 0.44 · 3 independent evidence families

Neurodegenerative DiseasesModerately supported
0.53
agreement 0.410.66
Clinical76%Pathway22%Literature2%

Open Targets aggregate 0.42 · 3 independent evidence families

This ranking differs from Open Targets' own: re-weighting moves genetically-evidenced diseases above more heavily co-mentioned ones. 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 per-type scores above show the calculation.

Show all associations
Cerebellar Ataxia0.44
Neurodegenerative Diseases0.42
Genetic Diseases, Inborn0.42

Drug development

6 compounds recorded · 5 approved · 1 in clinical development

Open Targets' development universe — every compound recorded against the target at any stage, not all approved medicines. Distinct from the 2 drugs that target this protein in Forefront's canonical graph (2 with a mapped approved indication, shown above): these count different sets and are not a subset relation.

View all recorded compounds (6)
TEDISAMILApproval
DALFAMPRIDINEApproval
AMIFAMPRIDINE PHOSPHATEApproval
GUANIDINE HYDROCHLORIDEApproval
AMIFAMPRIDINEApproval
NERISPIRDINEPhase 2

Open Targets known-drugs universe. Drug name and highest clinical stage only — the disease relationship is NOT read from this slice (it carries trial-context noise); approved indications come from the canonical graph above.

Tractability

Small moleculesStrong

Approved Drug and Druggable Family support this modality.

AntibodiesEmerging

Feasibility evidence (uniprot loc high conf and go cc high conf) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

View underlying tractability evidence (6)
SM · Approved DrugSM · Druggable FamilyAB · UniProt loc high confAB · GO CC high confAB · UniProt loc med confAB · UniProt SigP or TMHMM

Raw Open Targets tractability assessment buckets, by modality.

Clinical trials

30

Trials of drugs that target this protein — reached indirectly through those drugs, so a trial listed here studies the drug, not the protein. Ranked by active status, then clinical phase and recency, and spread across the targeting drugs.

View all trials (26)

RECRUITING · via dalfampridine · NCT06333171

RECRUITING · via dalfampridine · NCT06853015

TERMINATED · via dalfampridine · NCT04026568

COMPLETED · via dalfampridine · NCT02006160

COMPLETED · via dalfampridine · NCT01444300

ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.

What's happening now

6

Recent therapeutic activity around this target — regulatory actions, clinical trials and safety signals for 2 drugs that target this protein, plus publications where such a drug is a genuine subject. Every item is reached indirectly through the drug, not the protein itself; incidental mentions (a paper that merely measures a drug) and press items are excluded.

  1. Supplemental approval2026-08-10

    Supplemental approval: DALFAMPRIDINE (ANDA210158)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via dalfampridine

  2. Label change2023-04-11

    Label change: DALFAMPRIDINE (ANDA210158)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via dalfampridine

  3. Label change2021-09-15

    Label change: DALFAMPRIDINE (ANDA210158)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via dalfampridine

  4. Label change2020-08-14

    Label change: DALFAMPRIDINE (ANDA210158)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via dalfampridine

  5. Regulatory approval2019-03-11

    Approval: DALFAMPRIDINE (ANDA210158)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via dalfampridine

  6. Regulatory approval2009-12-23

    Approval: Firdapse (previously Zenas) (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via amifampridine

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.