Referenced in: none

Automatically associated channels: Kv11.1

Title: A mutation in the C. elegans EXP-2 potassium channel that alters feeding behavior.

Authors: M W Davis, R Fleischhauer, J A Dent, R H Joho, L Avery

Journal, date & volume: Science, 1999 Dec 24 , 286, 2501-4

PubMed link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10617464

Abstract
The nematode pharynx has a potassium channel with unusual properties, which allows the muscles to repolarize quickly and with the proper delay. Here, the Caenorhabditis elegans exp-2 gene is shown to encode this channel. EXP-2 is a Kv-type (voltage-activated) potassium channel that has inward-rectifying properties resembling those of the structurally dissimilar human ether-à-go-go-related gene (HERG) channel. Null and gain-of-function mutations affect pharyngeal muscle excitability in ways that are consistent with the electrophysiological behavior of the channel, and thereby demonstrate a direct link between the kinetics of this unusual channel and behavior.