# KCNA4

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/kcna4/  
OnCo record `kcna4` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

KCNA4 (Potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily A member 4) is a gene. The public catalogues list it as a drug target, and an approved or late-stage drug is recorded against it.

## Summary

Voltage-gated potassium channel that mediates transmembrane potassium transport in excitable membranes. Forms tetrameric potassium-selective channels through which potassium ions pass in accordance with their electrochemical gradient. The channel alternates between opened and closed conformations in response to the voltage difference across the membrane.

Open Targets scores its association with cancer at 0.51 (direct and indirect evidence; datatypes literature 0.19, genetic association 0.24, clinical 0.76).

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-23
- Also known as: potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily A member 4; Potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily A member 4; Kv1.4; HK1; HPCN2; PCN2; KCNA4L
- Tags: cancer-genes-wave
- Symbol: KCNA4
- Class: other
- Biology: Voltage-gated potassium channel that mediates transmembrane potassium transport in excitable membranes. Forms tetrameric potassium-selective channels through which potassium ions pass in accordance with their electrochemical gradient. The channel alternates between opened and closed conformations in response to the voltage difference across the membrane. Can form functional homotetrameric channels and heterotetrameric channels that contain variable proportions of KCNA1, KCNA2, KCNA4, KCNA5, and possibly other family members as well; channel properties depend on the type of alpha subunits that are part of the channel. Channel properties are modulated by cytoplasmic beta subunits that regulate the subcellular location of the alpha subunits and promote rapid inactivation. In vivo, membranes probably contain a mixture of heteromeric potassium channel complexes, making it difficult to assign currents observed in intact tissues to any particular potassium channel family member. Location: Cell membrane; Cell projection, axon (UniProt). Locus 11p14.1 (HGNC).

## Notes

- Written by scripts/fetch-cancer-genes.ts from CIViC, Open Targets, IntOGen, HGNC and UniProt; the function text is UniProt's, condensed and in UK spelling. Roles: Open Targets known-drug datatype score 0.76. Evidence tier "approved-drug" is the strongest of those signals.
- Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:6222: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:6222
- UniProt P22459: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/P22459/entry
- NCBI Gene 3739: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/3739
- Ensembl ENSG00000182255: https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000182255

## Connected records

- collections: [Open Targets Platform](https://onco.cc/collections/open-targets/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/kcna4.json