Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) contribute to gastrointestinal ulcer formation by inhibiting epithelial cell migration and mucosal restitution; however, the drug-affected signaling pathways are poorly defined. We investigated whether NSAID inhibition of intestinal epithelial migration is associated with depletion of intracellular polyamines, depolarization of membrane potential (E m ) and altered surface expression of K + channels. Epithelial cell migration in response to the wounding of confluent IEC-6 and IEC-Cdx2 monolayers was reduced by indomethacin (100 μM), phenylbutazone (100 μM) and NS-398 (100 μM) but not by SC-560 (1 μM). NSAIDinhibition of intestinal cell migration was not associated with depletion of intracellular polyamines. Treatment of IEC-6 and IEC-Cdx2 cells with indomethacin, phenylbutazone and NS-398 induced significant depolarization of E m , whereas treatment with SC-560 had no effect on E m . The E m of IEC-Cdx2 cells was: −38.5±1.8 mV under control conditions; −35.9±1.6 mV after treatment with SC-560; −18.8±1.2 mV after treatment with indomethacin; and −23.7±1.4 mV after treatment with NS-398. Whereas SC-560 had no significant effects on the total cellular expression of K v 1.4 channel protein, indomethacin and NS-398 decreased not only the total cellular expression of K v 1.4, but also the cell surface expression of both K v 1.4 and K v 1.6 channel subunits in IEC-Cdx2. Both K v 1.4 and K v 1.6 channel proteins were immunoprecipitated by K v 1.4 antibody from IEC-Cdx2 lysates, indicating that these subunits co-assemble to form heteromeric K v channels. These results suggest that NSAID inhibition of epithelial cell migration is independent of polyamine-depletion, and is associated with depolarization of E m and decreased surface expression of heteromeric K v 1 channels.