1. The regulation of the cardiac Ca2+ release channel‐ryanodine receptor (RyR) by exogenous acid phosphatase (AcPh) and purified Ca(2+)‐calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) was studied in swine and rabbit sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) vesicles using [3H]ryanodine binding and planar bilayer reconstitution experiments. 2. Addition of AcPh (1‐20 U ml‐1) to a standard incubation medium increased [3H]ryanodine binding in a Ca(2+)‐dependent manner. Stimulation was only readily apparent in media containing micromolar Ca2+ concentrations. 3. Scatchard analysis of [3H]ryanodine binding curves revealed that AcPh enhanced binding by increasing the affinity of the receptor for [3H]ryanodine without recruiting additional receptor sites (Kd, 9.8 +/‐ 0.85 and 3.9 +/‐ 0.65 nM; Bmax (the maximal receptor density), 1.45 +/‐ 0.14 and 1.47 +/‐ 0.12 pmol mg‐1 for control and AcPh, respectively). The failure of AcPh to increase Bmax suggested that the number of receptors that were ‘dormant’ due to phosphorylation in the SR preparation was very small. 4. At the single channel level, AcPh increased the open probability (Po) of RyR channels by increasing the opening rate and inducing the appearance of a longer open state while having no effect on single channel conductance. Thus AcPh acted directly on RyR channels or a closely associated regulatory protein. 5. CaMKII decreased both [3H]ryanodine binding and Po of RyRs when added to medium supplemented with micromolar levels of Ca2+ and calmodulin (CaM). Addition of a synthetic peptide inhibitor of CaMKII, or replacement of ATP with the non‐hydrolysable ATP analogue adenylyl[beta, gamma‐methylene]‐diphosphate (AMP‐PCP), prevented CaMKII inhibition of RyRs, suggesting that CaMKII acted specifically through a phosphorylation mechanism. 6. The inhibition of RyR channel activity by CaMKII was reversed by the addition of AcPh. Thus we showed that an in vitro phosphorylation‐dephosphorylation mechanism effectively regulates RyRs. 7. The results suggest that intracellular signalling pathways that lead to activation of CaMKII may reduce efflux of Ca2+ from the SR by inhibition of RyR channel activity. The Ca2+ dependence of CaMKII inhibition suggests that the role of the phosphorylation mechanism is to modulate the RyR response to Ca2+.