Large conductance, calcium-sensitive K ؉ channels (BK Ca channels) contribute to the control of membrane potential in a variety of tissues, including smooth muscle, where they act as the target effector for intracellular "calcium sparks" and the endothelium-derived vasodilator nitric oxide. Various signal transduction pathways, including protein phosphorylation can regulate the activity of BK Ca channels, along with many other membrane ion channels. In our study, we have examined the regulation of BK Ca channels by the cellular Src gene product (cSrc), a soluble tyrosine kinase that has been implicated in the regulation of both voltage-and ligand-gated ion channels. Using a heterologous expression system, we observed that co-expression of murine BK Ca channel and the human cSrc tyrosine kinase in HEK 293 cells led to a calcium-sensitive enhancement of BK Ca channel activity in excised membrane patches. In contrast, co-expression with a catalytically inactive cSrc mutant produced no change in BK Ca channel activity, demonstrating the requirement for a functional cSrc molecule. Furthermore, we observed that BK Ca channels underwent direct tyrosine phosphorylation in cells co-transfected with BK Ca channels and active cSrc but not in cells co-transfected with the kinase inactive form of the enzyme. A single Tyr to Phe substitution in the C-terminal half of the channel largely prevented this observed phosphorylation. Given that cSrc may become activated by receptor tyrosine kinases or G-protein-coupled receptors, these findings suggest that cSrc-dependent tyrosine phosphorylation of BK Ca channels in situ may represent a novel regulatory mechanism for altering membrane potential and calcium entry.In the large family of voltage-gated K ϩ channels, large conductance, calcium-sensitive potassium (maxi-K or BK Ca ) 1 channels represent a unique class whose gating depends primarily on membrane voltage but which can be shifted in the negative direction by intracellular free calcium. A direct physiologic consequence of this behavior is that BK Ca channels act as "coincidence detectors" and regulate, in a feedback fashion, cellular processes stimulated by close temporal changes in membrane potential and intracellular calcium. That BK Ca channels indeed play such a role is evidenced by the fact that blocking these channels increases the degree of myogenic tone observed in arterial smooth muscle (1-3) and enhances the presynaptic calcium-dependent release of neurotransmitter at neuromuscular junctions (4, 5).Given their potential to influence cellular processes, it is not surprising that BK Ca channels are also targets of cellular signaling pathways, including phosphorylation and dephosphorylation reactions (6 -11), heterotrimeric GTP-binding proteins (12, 13), and the endothelium-derived vasodilator nitric oxide (14). To date, however, many of the molecular aspects of these regulatory events remain poorly understood.Of these various cellular pathways, protein phosphorylation remains as one of the most common forms of intrace...