# KCNB2

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/kcnb2/  
OnCo record `kcnb2` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

KCNB2 (Potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily B member 2) 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, primarily in the brain and smooth muscle cells. Channels open or close in response to the voltage difference across the membrane, letting potassium ions pass in accordance with their electrochemical gradient. Homotetrameric channels mediate a delayed-rectifier voltage-dependent outward potassium current that display rapid activation and slow inactivation in response to membrane depolarisation.

Open Targets scores its association with cancer at 0.58 (direct and indirect evidence; datatypes literature 0.04, genetic association 0.55, clinical 0.76).

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-23
- Also known as: potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily B member 2; Potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily B member 2; Kv2.2
- Tags: cancer-genes-wave
- Symbol: KCNB2
- Class: other
- Biology: Voltage-gated potassium channel that mediates transmembrane potassium transport in excitable membranes, primarily in the brain and smooth muscle cells. Channels open or close in response to the voltage difference across the membrane, letting potassium ions pass in accordance with their electrochemical gradient. Homotetrameric channels mediate a delayed-rectifier voltage-dependent outward potassium current that display rapid activation and slow inactivation in response to membrane depolarisation. Can form functional homotetrameric and heterotetrameric channels that contain variable proportions of KCNB1; channel properties depend on the type of alpha subunits that are part of the channel. Can also form functional heterotetrameric channels with other alpha subunits that are non-conducting when expressed alone, such as KCNS1 and KCNS2, creating a functionally diverse range of channel complexes. 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; Perikaryon; Cell projection, dendrite (UniProt). Locus 8q21.11 (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:6232: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:6232
- UniProt Q92953: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q92953/entry
- NCBI Gene 9312: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/9312
- Ensembl ENSG00000182674: https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000182674

## Connected records

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

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/kcnb2.json