Using patch-clamp technique, we studied the role of the Ca 2+ /calmodulin kinase II (CaMK II)-mediated phosphorylation process on the K + channel with an inward conductance of 90 pS in opossum kidney proximal tubule cells (OKPCs). The intracellular Ca 2+ concentration ([Ca] i ) was measured by use of the fluorescent dye fura 2. The following results were obtained: (i) In cell-attached patches, the channel activity was inhibited by a decrease in [Ca] i induced by perfusion with low Ca 2+ (10 -8 M), La 3+ (100 µM), or EGTA/AM (100 µM) contained in the bath solution. The application of KN-62 (10 µM) or KN-93 (5 µM), inhibitors of CaMK II, also inhibited the channel activity. (ii) The membrane potential measured with nystatin-perforated patches was significantly decreased by the fall in [Ca] i induced by the perfusion with EGTA-or La 3+ -containing solution. Also, the application of KN-62 (10 µM) or KN-93 (5 µM) to the bath significantly decreased the membrane potential. (iii) In inside-out patches, the channel activity was significantly stimulated by the application of CaMK II (300 pM) at 10 -7 M Ca 2+ in the bath. Furthermore, the application of KN-62 (10 µM) to the bath significantly decreased the channel activity. Our findings show that the constitutive activity of inwardly rectifying K + channel at physiological [Ca] i is mediated by the Ca 2+ /CaMK II pathway in OKPCs.Key words: proximal tubule, K + channel, patch-clamp, intracellular Ca 2+ , CaMK II. It has also been shown that Ca 2+ -dependent signal transduction systems regulate the activity of the inwardly rectifying K + channel in the proximal tubule cells [9,10]. Ca 2+ -dependent serine/threonine protein kinases are major components of the Ca 2+ -dependent signal transduction system [11,12], and these kinases are known to regulate the activity of several ion channels, carriers, and pumps, thereby modulating transmembrane electrolyte transport. The two main groups of Ca 2+ -dependent protein kinases are (i) protein kinase C (PKC) and (ii) Ca 2+ /calmodulindependent protein kinase II (CaMK II). Previously, we studied the effect of PKC on this K + channel and demonstrated that PKC inhibits the inwardly rectifying K + channels at the intracellular Ca 2+ concentration ([Ca] i ) over the physiological range, ~10 -6.5 M [9]. Furthermore, we reported that CaMK II-mediated phosphorylation contributes to the activation of inwardly rectifying K + channels in OKPCs [9].Although the effect of Ca 2+ -dependent proteins, such as the constitutive form of nitric oxide synthase (cNOS) [13,14] In this study, therefore, we examined the effect of a low [Ca] i on the inwardly rectifying K + channels in OKPCs,