Human mu-calpain is activated maximally by 100-200 microM Ca2+. Both the 80 kDa and 29 kDa subunits of mu-calpain have a EF-hand type calcium-binding domain. It is known that trivalent terbium ion (Tb3+) mimics Ca2+ in many biological systems. We found that Tb3+ alone transiently activated calpain. However, in the presence of Ca2+, Tb3+ inhibited mu-calpain with an IC50 of about 100 microM. As high as 10 mM Ca2+ did not significantly shift the IC50 of Tb3+. Preincubating mu-calpain by Ca2+ (before Tb3+ and substrate were added) did not diminish the inhibition by Tb3+. On the other hand, pretreating mu-calpain with Tb3+ produced that Tb3+ has a slow dissociation rate for the calcium-binding sites when compared to Ca2+. Electrophoretic analysis revealed that terbium ion transiently activated mu-calpain followed by the aggregation of the proteinase.