Pancreatic ATP-sensitive potassium (K ATP ) channels control insulin secretion by coupling the excitability of the pancreatic -cell to glucose metabolism. Little is currently known about how the plasma membrane density of these channels is regulated. We therefore set out to examine in detail the endocytosis and recycling of these channels and how these processes are regulated. To achieve this goal, we expressed K ATP channels bearing an extracellular hemagglutinin epitope in human embryonic kidney cells and followed their fate along the endocytic pathway. Our results show that K ATP channels undergo multiple rounds of endocytosis and recycling. Further, activation of protein kinase C (PKC) with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate significantly decreases K ATP channel surface density by reducing channel recycling and diverting the channel to lysosomal degradation. These findings were recapitulated in the model pancreatic -cell line INS1e, where activation of PKC leads to a decrease in the surface density of native K ATP channels. Because sorting of internalized channels between lysosomal and recycling pathways could have opposite effects on the excitability of pancreatic -cells, we propose that PKC-regulated K ATP channel trafficking may play a role in the regulation of insulin secretion.The ATP-sensitive potassium (K ATP ) channel plays a key role in the regulation of glucose-induced insulin secretion by the pancreatic -cells (1-3). Central to this role is its unique ability to couple changes in the metabolism of glucose to changes in membrane potential. A rise in blood glucose levels increases the uptake and metabolism of glucose, resulting in an increase in the intracellular [ATP]/[ADP] ratio and inhibition of K ATP channels. This leads to depolarization of the -cell membrane (caused by inhibition of K ϩ efflux), stimulating opening of voltage-activated calcium channels, Ca 2ϩ influx, and insulin release (4). Regulation of K ATP channel function by products of metabolism (e.g. nucleotides) as well as other cellular signals (e.g. protein kinases, lipids) has been extensively studied (1,5,6). By comparison, little is known about how the number of channels at the plasma membrane of the cell is controlled, although there is growing evidence that changes in the membrane density of the channel underlie disease states (7,8).Structurally, K ATP channels exist as octamers formed from four subunits of the inwardly rectifying potassium channel Kir6.1 or Kir6.2, together with four sulfonylurea receptor (SUR1, SUR2A, or SUR2B) subunits (5, 9 -11). The pancreatic K ATP channel comprises Kir6.2 and SUR1 subunits, which are encoded by the genes KCNJ11 and ABCC8, respectively (5, 6, 10, 11). Mutations in both of these genes are associated with disorders of insulin secretion including congenital hyperinsulinism and neonatal diabetes (4, 7). Studies have shown that although some mutations affect the nucleotide regulation of the channel (12-14), others alter the density of the channels at the cell surface by affecting traffickin...