Sex hormones have played a strong role in the history of KCNE potassium channel subunits. KCNE subunits were originally discovered as hormonally regulated potassium channel components isolated from uterine muscle (Pragnell et al. 1990). Despite this, the role that sex hormones and sex differences play in KCNE expression and function in non-gonadal tissues has remained relatively unexplored. Although initially misidentified as 'MinK', an independent pore forming subunit, KCNE1 and the KCNE family are now known to be ancillary subunits with significant influence on the stability and biophysical behaviour of potassium channel partners (Bett & Rasmusson, 2008).
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