We have used a monoclonal antibody (MAb E12), one of several such antibodies raised against theophylline-treated Necturus gallbladder epithelial cells, to isolate a chloride channel protein by the use of an immunoaffinity column and FPLC. This protein (M(r) 219,000) has been reconstituted into a planar lipid bilayer, where it behaves as a chloride-selective channel (PCl/PNa = 20.2; PNa/PK = 1) whose unit conductance is 62.4 +/- 4.6 pS. Antibody added to the trans side (there is no effect from the cis side) causes channel open probability to drop to virtually zero, but has no effect on the conductance or the selectivity of single channels. To test the role of phosphorylation in the activity of the native channel, we studied the effects of the protein phosphatase inhibitor okadaic acid (OA) on intact gallbladders, and showed that channels opened by theophylline treatment and closed by antibody are reopened reversibly by OA (0.01-1.0 microM). Addition of the catalytic subunit of protein phosphatase 2A (PP-2A) to the cis side of a bilayer containing reconstituted chloride channels caused closure of the channels after a delay, and subsequent addition of ATP and the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) caused immediate reopening. These data indicate that (a) this chloride channel protein inserts in a directed way into the bilayer such that the cis side is 'intracellular', (b) the purified channel protein is phosphorylated, and (c) gating from the cellular side is controlled by the direct phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of the channel protein.