 Nakajo and Kubo found that KCNE1 either slowed KCNQ1 S4 movement upon membrane depolarization, or altered S4 equilibrium at a given membrane potential.The Kass lab deduced that while homomeric KCNQ1 channels can open after the movement of a single S4 segment, KCNQ1-KCNE1 channels can only open after all four S4 segments have been activated.The intracellular C-terminal domain of KCNE1 is thought to sit on the KCNQ1 S4-S5 linker, a segment of KCNQ1 crucial for communicating S4 status to the pore and thus control activation.