Voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channels represent the most complex class of voltage-gated ion channels from both functional and structural standpoints. Their diverse functions include regulating neurotransmitter release, heart rate, insulin secretion, neuronal excitability, epithelial electrolyte transport, smooth muscle contraction, and cell volume. This gene encodes a member of the potassium channel, voltage-gated, isk-related subfamily. This member is a small integral membrane subunit that assembles with the KCNH2 gene product, a pore-forming protein, to alter its function. This gene is expressed in heart and muscle and the gene mutations are associated with cardiac arrhythmia.