This gene encodes a component of a voltage-activated potassium channel found in cardiac muscle, nerve cells, and microglia. Four copies of this protein interact with one copy of the KCNE2 protein to form a functional potassium channel. Mutations in this gene can cause long QT syndrome type 2 (LQT2). Transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms have been identified. [provided by RefSeq, May 2022]
Forensic Context
A study in humans demonstrated that postmortem molecular analysis of ten sudden unexplained death cases, including six SIDS and four SUD cases, identified the common silent polymorphisms Y652Y and L564L in the KCNH2 gene, detected in seven and two cases respectively, through complete gene sequencing [Kiehne & Kauferstein DOI:10.1016/J.Fsigen.2007.01.009]. A study in human-induced pluripotency stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes demonstrated that a c.G1681A mutation in the KCNH2 gene, which encodes the hERG channel, causes a dominant-negative trafficking defect, impaired glycosylation, reduced I_Kr function, prolonged action potential duration, and increased susceptibility to drug-induced arrhythmias [Matsa et al. DOI:10.1093/eurheartj/eht067].