Platelet-activating factor (PAF), an inflammatory phospholipid, induces ventricular arrhythmia via an unknown ionic mechanism. We can now link PAF-mediated cardiac electrophysiological effects to inhibition of a two-pore domain K(+) channel [TWIK-related acid-sensitive K(+) background channel (TASK-1)]. Superfusion of carbamyl-PAF (C-PAF), a stable analog of PAF, over murine ventricular myocytes causes abnormal automaticity, plateau phase arrest of the action potential, and early afterdepolarizations in paced and quiescent cells from wild-type but not PAF receptor knockout mice. C-PAF-dependent currents are insensitive to Cs(+) and are outwardly rectifying with biophysical properties consistent with a K(+)-selective channel. The current is blocked by TASK-1 inhibitors, including protons, Ba(2+), Zn(2+), and methanandamide, a stable analog of the endogenous lipid ligand of cannabinoid receptors. In addition, when TASK-1 is expressed in CHO cells that express an endogenous PAF receptor, superfusion of C-PAF decreases the expressed current. Like C-PAF, methanandamide evoked spontaneous activity in quiescent myocytes. C-PAF- and methanandamide-sensitive currents are blocked by a specific protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor, implying overlapping signaling pathways. In conclusion, C-PAF blocks TASK-1 or a closely related channel, the effect is PKC dependent, and the inhibition alters the electrical activity of myocytes in ways that would be arrhythmogenic in the intact heart.