Human L-type voltage-dependent Ca2؉ channels (␣ 1C , or Ca v 1.2) are up-regulated by protein kinase C (PKC) in native tissues, but in heterologous systems this modulation is absent. In rat and rabbit, ␣ 1C has two N-terminal (NT) isoforms, long and short, with variable initial segments of 46 and 16 amino acids, respectively. The initial 46 amino acids of the long-NT ␣ 1C are crucial for PKC regulation. However, only a short-NT human ␣ 1C is known. We assumed that a long-NT isoform of human ␣ 1C may exist. By homology screening of human genomic DNA, we identified a stretch (termed exon 1a) highly homologous to rabbit long-NT, separated from the next known exon of ␣ 1C (exon 1b, which encodes the alternative, short-NT) by an ϳ80 kb-long intron. The predicted 46-amino acid protein sequence is highly homologous to rabbit long-NT. Reverse transcriptase PCR showed the presence of exon 1a transcript in human cardiac RNA. Expression of human long-NT ␣ 1C in Xenopus oocytes produced Ca 2؉ channel enhanced by a PKC activator, whereas the short-NT ␣ 1C was inhibited. The long-NT isoform may be the Ca 2؉ channel enhanced by PKCactivating transmitters in human tissues.Voltage-dependent L-type Ca 2ϩ channels are crucial for cardiac and smooth muscle contraction and hormone secretion, and they regulate gene expression in the brain (1-3). Their function is highly regulated by hormones and neurotransmitters, largely via activation of protein kinases (3,4). Regulation by PKC 1 is believed to be of substantial physiological importance, mediating all or part of the effects of several hormones and intracellular messengers (4). PKC enhances L-type Ca 2ϩ currents in diverse human tissues and cell lines: heart, neuroblastoma, T-cells, and endocrine cells (5-10). Dual modulation by PKC is often observed with activation followed by, or concomitant with, inhibition (5, 10). Similar enhancement by PKC, sometimes followed by inhibition, has been described in other mammals (11,12) and was reproduced in Xenopus oocytes expressing the cloned rabbit cardiac L-type Ca 2ϩ channels (13,14). However, expression of human L-type channels, encoded by all cDNA cloned to date, yielded Ca 2ϩ channels that were only inhibited by PKC; the enhancement could not be reconstituted (15). The reason for the inability to reproduce the PKC modulation of human L-type channels remained unknown. The main, pore-forming subunit of cardiac/smooth muscle L-type channel (␣ 1C or Ca v 1.2), also present in the brain, is the product of the ␣ 1C gene, CACNA1C (16). Several splice variants of CACNA1C are known (17,18). The resulting isoforms of human ␣ 1C protein show differential distribution in human tissues, and in failing versus normal myocardium. They play important roles in Ca 2ϩ -dependent inactivation, oxygen sensing, and drug sensitivity (18 -22). However, the genomic structure of the beginning of N-terminal region of human ␣ 1C is not entirely clear. In the two best studied mammalian species, rat and rabbit, two N-terminal isoforms of ␣ 1C cDNA are known, which mos...