Arsenic trioxide (ATO) can induce cellular apoptosis and inhibit the activities of multiple myeloma (MM)cells in vitro,1 but how it works is not very clear. Recent studies showed that ATO worked on the voltagedependent potassium channel and L-type calcium channel in myocardial cells,2-5 but the effect of ATO on ion channels of tumor cells was rarely reported. As the potassium channel plays an important role in controlling cell proliferation,6 we studied the effects of ATO on the voltage-dependent potassium current (Ikv) of the voltage-dependent potassium channel in an MM cell line,and probed into the relationship between changes of the Ikv caused by ATO and cell proliferation.