KCNQ1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus: In 2008, two papers provided the first reports of GWAS for T2D in East Asian populations and ascertained KCNQ1 as a new susceptibility locus [70, 71]. KCNQ1 encodes the pore-forming α-subunit of the voltage-gated K+ channel (KvLQT1), which is expressed mainly in the heart and pancreas.