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Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Isolation and Kv Channel Recordings in Murine Atrial and Ventricular Cardiomyocytes
Published on: March 12, 2013
A highly polymorphic poly-glutamine stretch in the potassium channel KCNN3 in migraine
Rainald Mössner1, Annette Weichselbaum, Martin Marziniak
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Würzburg, Germany.
Objective:
The present study is designed to further elucidate the molecular genetic basis of migraine with and without aura.
Background:
Migraine is a common disease of as yet unknown etiology. Interest in ion channels in migraine has been spurred by molecular genetic findings in familial hemiplegic migraine, since familial hemiplegic migraine type 1 is caused by mutations in the calcium channel gene CACNA1A.
Methods:
Given this role of ion channels in migraine, we assessed the potassium channel KCNN3 as a candidate gene for common migraine. We analyzed the highly polymorphic repeat region coding for a poly-glutamine stretch, which constitutes part of the cytoplasmic tail of the channel protein.
Results:
We found an excess of the allele coding for 15 poly-glutamines in migraine patients.
Conclusions:
The potassium channel KCNN3 may thus be of pathophysiological importance in migraine with and without aura.
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