We have isolated a human hippocampus cDNA that encodes an inwardly reying potasi channel, termed HIR (hippocampal inward rectifier), with strong rectifcation characteristics. Single-channel recordings indicate that the HIR channel has an unusually small conductance (13 pS), diinguishing HIR from other cloned inward rectifiers.RNA blot analyses show that HIR transcripts are present in heart, skeletal muscle, and several different brain regions, including the hippocampus.K+ channels constitute a highly diverse group including voltage-gated and Ca2+-activated channels belonging to the Shaker superfamily (1) and a distinct class of channels, the inward rectifiers. Inwardly rectifying K+ channels are characterized by a decrease in K+ conductance as the membrane potential becomes positive with respect to the K+ equilibrium potential (EK); as a result, these channels carry large inward currents and small outward currents (2).The asymmetrical conductances of inward rectifiers are critical for the maintenance and modulation of cellular excitability. Inward rectifiers constitute the major class of K+ channels in the heart, where they are involved in the onset and termination of the long-duration action potentials, in the regulation of heart-beat frequency, and in the determination of the resting potential (2-4). In the central nervous system, inwardly rectifying K+ currents are present in neuronal and nonneuronal cells, including hippocampal neurons and astrocytes (5-8), and are thought to participate in electrical signaling and information processing.In contrast to the fixed voltage-dependence of most ion channel mechanisms, the voltage-dependence of inward rectification varies with the external K+ concentration ([K+]O), causing the voltage at which rectification occurs to shift in parallel with EK. Open channel block by internal Mg2+ is the primary cause ofboth rapid inward rectification (9-11) and the dependence of rectification on external K+ (9,11,12 The primary structures of three inwardly rectifying K+ channels, ROMK1, IRK1, and GIRK1/KGA have been reported recently (13-16). These inward rectifiers show homologies with K+ channels of the Shaker superfamily in the H5 domain, thought to be the central core of the channel pore (13, 14), but are markedly different in other regions. In addition, only two putative membrane-spanning domains bracket the H5 region of inward rectifier polypeptides, in contrast to the six transmembrane domains of Shaker-type K+ channels.We have cloned a cDNA encoding a human inwardly rectifying K+ channel, HIR (hippocampal inward rectifier), present in brain and muscle tissues.* We have expressed the HIR channel in Xenopus oocytes, and we have shown that it is a classical strong inward rectifier, displaying large inward currents and minimal outward currents. The amino acid sequence of HIR has homology to those of other inward rectifiers but contains significant differences, indicating that HIR is a previously unreported member of the inward rectifier family. Electrophysiological analy...