KCNMA1 and Addictive alcohol use: The potential involvement of miRNAs in alcohol intake was suggested by the following two recent reports: In cultured rodent neurons, alcohol is found to be able to up-regulate the miR-9 and down-regulate the expression of its target gene, alpha subunit of BK channel, which is a molecule related to the alcohol addiction (Pietrzykowski et al, 2008).