KCNK2 and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Therefore, we next tested riluzole a drug that is used to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), since it is known to activate potassium channels, e.g., the K2P channels TREK-1 and TRAAK (Duprat et al., 2000) or small-conductance Ca2+ activated potassium channels (Cao et al., 2002).