1 The inhibition of the cardiac`rapid' delayed recti®er current (I Kr ) and its cloned equivalent HERG mediate QT interval prolonging e ects of a wide range of clinically used drugs. In this study, we investigated the e ects of the Class Ic antiarrhythmic agent¯ecainide (FLEC) on ionic current (I HERG ) mediated by cloned HERG channels at 378C . We also compared the inhibitory potency of FLEC with other Class I agents: quinidine (QUIN, Class Ia); lignocaine (LIG, Class Ib) and propafenone (PROPAF, Class Ic). 2 Whole cell voltage clamp recordings of I HERG were made from an HEK293 cell line stably expressing HERG. FLEC inhibited I HERG`t ails' following test pulses to +30 mV with an IC 50 of 3.91+0.68 mM (mean+s.e.mean) and a Hill co-e cient close to 1 (0.76+0.09).3 In experiments in which I HERG tails were monitored following voltage commands to a range of test potentials, I HERG inhibition by FLEC was observed to be voltage-dependent and to be associated with a *75 mV shift of the activation curve for the current. Voltage-dependence of inhibition was greatest over the range of potentials corresponding to the steep portion of the I HERG activation curve. The time-course of I HERG tail deactivation was not signi®cantly altered by FLEC. 4 In experiments in which 10 s depolarizing pulses were applied from 780 to 0 mV, the level of current inhibition by FLEC did not increase between 1 and 10 s. Some time-dependence of inhibition was observed during the ®rst 200 ± 300 ms of depolarization. This observation and the voltage-dependence of inhibition are collectively consistent with FLEC exerting a rapid open channel state inhibition of I HERG . 5 Under similar recording conditions QUIN inhibited I HERG with an IC 50 of 0.41+0.04 mM and PROPAF inhibited I HERG with an IC 50 of 0.44+0.07 mM. Similar to FLEC, both QUIN and PROPAF showed voltage-dependence of inhibition and blockade developed rapidly during a sustained depolarization. 6 LIG showed little e ect on I HERG at low micromolar concentrations, but could inhibit the current at higher concentrations; the observed IC 50 was 262.90+22.40 mM. 7 Our data are consistent with FLEC, PROPAF and QUIN exerting I HERG blockade at clinically relevant concentrations. The rank potency as HERG blockers of the Class I drugs tested in this study was QUIN=PROPAF4FLEC44LIG. British Journal of Pharmacology (2002) 136, 717 ± 729 Keywords: Antiarrhythmic; Class Ia; Class Ib; Class Ic;¯ecainide; HERG; I Kr ; QT interval; QT prolongation; quinidine Abbreviations: ANOVA, analysis of variance; d, fractional distance in the transmembrane ®eld sensed at drug receptor site; DISO, disopyramide; FLEC,¯ecainide; HERG, Human ether-a-go-go related gene; IC 50 , half maximal inhibitory drug concentration; I Ca,L , L-type calcium current; I HERG , current mediated by the HERG channel; I K , delayed recti®er potassium current; I Kr`r apid' delayed recti®er potassium current; I Ks`s low' delayed recti®er potassium current; I to , transient outward potassium current; k, slope factor describing voltage de...