The potassium inwardly rectifying channel, sub-family J, member 11 (KCNJ11), which is a pore-forming sub-unit of ATP sensitive potassium channels in pancreatic B-cells, plays a critical role in the regulation of insulin secretion. A non-synonymous E23K variant (SNP rs5219) in the KCNJ11 gene, which results from C to T transition and substitutes glutamate for lysine at position 23, is identified as a SNP associated with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. |