The regulation of ATP-sensitive potassium (K ATP ) channel activity is complex and a multitude of factors determine their open probability. Physiologically and pathophysiologically, the most important of these are intracellular nucleotides, with a long-recognized role for glycolytically derived ATP in regulating channel activity. To identify novel regulatory subunits of the K ATP channel complex, we performed a two-hybrid protein-protein interaction screen, using as bait the mouse Kir6.2 C terminus. Screening a rat heart cDNA library, we identified two potential interacting proteins to be the glycolytic enzymes, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and triose-phosphate isomerase. The veracity of interaction was verified by co-immunoprecipitation techniques in transfected mammalian cells. We additionally demonstrated that pyruvate kinase also interacts with Kir6.2 subunits. The physiological relevance of these interactions is illustrated by the demonstration that native Kir6.2 protein similarly interact with GAPDH and pyruvate kinase in rat heart membrane fractions and that Kir6.2 protein co-localize with these glycolytic enzymes in rat ventricular myocytes. The functional relevance of our findings is demonstrated by the ability of GAPDH or pyruvate kinase substrates to directly block the K ATP channel under patch clamp recording conditions. Taken together, our data provide direct evidence for the concept that key enzymes involved in glycolytic ATP production are part of a multisubunit K ATP channel protein complex. Our data are consistent with the concept that the activity of these enzymes (possibly by ATP formation in the immediate intracellular microenvironment of this macromolecular K ATP channel complex) causes channel closure.K ATP channels act as metabolic sensors of a large diversity of cell types by directly coupling their energy metabolism to cellular excitability. This function serves as a crucial regulatory mechanism in the responses of various cell types to their metabolic demand. For example, K ATP channels mediate insulin release from pancreatic  cells, control the firing rate of glucose-responsive neurons in the ventromedial hypothalamus, and protect neurons during hypoxia. K ATP channels also have unique roles in the cardiovascular system. In the coronary vasculature, they participate in the maintenance of the coronary vascular tone, whereas in cardiac myocytes, K ATP channel modulation causes alterations in action potential duration and induction of arrhythmias during cardiac ischemia (1).The minimum requirement for the formation of a heterologously expressed K ATP channel appears to be the presence of two types of subunits, namely a pore-forming subunit (Kir6.x) belonging to the family of inward rectifying K ϩ channel subunits and a sulfonylurea receptor regulatory subunit, which is a member of the family of ABC-cassette proteins (2). However, ion channels are increasingly realized to be multisubunit macromolecular complexes (3-5). Recent evidence suggest that the K ATP channel pro...