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 membrane protein which has sequence similarity to the KCNE1 gene product, a member of the potassium channel, voltage-gated, isk-related subfamily. This intronless gene is deleted in AMME contiguous gene syndrome and may be involved in the cardiac and neurologic abnormalities found in the AMME contiguous gene syndrome. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]