A cDNA clone encoding a human B1 bradykinin receptor was isolated from a human embryonic lung fibroblast cDNA library by expression cloning. The photoprotein aequorin was utilized as an indicator of the ability of the B1 receptor agonist [des-Arg10]kallidin to mediate Ca2+ mobilization in Xenopus laevis oocytes injected with RNA. A clone was isolated with a 1307-nucleotide insert which contains an open reading frame encoding a 353-amino acid protein with the characteristics of a G-protein-coupled receptor. The amino acid sequence of the B1 bradykinin receptor is 36% identical to the amino acid sequence of the B2 bradykinin receptor. The cloned B1 bradykinin receptor expressed in mammalian cells exhibits high affinity binding for 3H-labeled [des-Arg10]kallidin and low affinity for bradykinin. The B1 receptor antagonist [des-Arg10,Leu9]kallidin effectively displaces 3H-labeled [des-Arg10]kallidin from the cloned receptor, whereas the B2 receptor antagonist Hoe-140 (D-Arg0-[Hyp3,Thi5,D-Tic7,Oic8]bradykinin, where Thi is L-[3-(2-thienyl)alanyl], Tic is D-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolin-3-yl-carbonyl), and Oic is L-[(3aS, 7aS)-octahydroindol-2-yl-carbonyl]) does not. Therefore, the expressed receptor has the pharmacological characteristics of the B1 receptor subtype. The availability of both the cloned human B1 and B2 bradykinin receptors should allow the elucidation of the relative contributions of these two receptor subtypes in acute and chronic inflammatory processes.