1. Whole-cell voltage-clamp techniques were used to record K+ currents in relay neurons (RNs) that had been acutely isolated from rat thalamic ventrobasal complex and maintained at 23 degrees C in vitro. Tetrodoxin (TTX; 0.5 microM) was used to block Na+ currents, and reduced extracellular levels of Ca2+ (1 mM) were used to minimize contributions from Ca2+ current (ICa). 2. In RNs, depolarizing commands activate K+ currents characterized by a substantial rapidly inactivating (time constant approximately 20 ms) component, the features of which correspond to those of the transient K+ current (IA) in other preparations, and by a smaller, more slowly activating K+ current, "IK". IA was reversibly blocked by 4-aminopyridine (4-AP, 5 mM), and the reversal potential varied with [K+]o as predicted by the Nernst equation. 3. IA was relatively insensitive to blockade by tetraethylammonium [TEA; 50%-inhibitory concentration (IC50) much much greater than 20 mM]; however, two components of IK were blocked with IC50S of 30 microM and 3 mM. Because 20 mM TEA blocked 90% of the sustained current while reducing IA by less than 10%, this concentration was routinely used in experiments in which IA was isolated and characterized. To further minimize contamination by other conductances, 4-AP was added to TEA-containing solutions and the 4-AP-sensitive current was obtained by subtraction. 4. Voltage-dependent steady-state inactivation of peak IA was described by a Boltzman function with a slope factor (k) of -6.5 and half-inactivation (V1/2) occurring at -75 mV. Activation of IA was characterized by a Boltzman curve with V1/2 = -35 mV and k = 10.8. 5. IA activation and inactivation kinetics were best fitted by the Hodgkin-Huxley m4h formalism. The rate of activation was voltage dependent, with tau m decreasing from 2.3 ms at -40 mV to 0.5 ms at +50 mV. Inactivation was relatively voltage independent and nonexponential. The rate of inactivation was described by two exponential decay processes with time constants (tau h1 and tau h2) of 20 and 60 ms. Both components were steady-state inactivated with similar voltage dependence. 6. Temperature increases within the range of 23-35 degrees C caused IA activation and inactivation rates to become faster, with temperature coefficient (Q10) values averaging 2.8. IA amplitude also increased as a function of temperature, albeit with a somewhat lower Q10 of 1.6. 7. Several voltage-dependent properties of IA closely resemble those of the transient inward Ca2+ current, IT. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)