In the rat pancreatic beta-cell, Na/Ca exchange displays a quite high capacity. The cell is equipped with two alternatively spliced Na/Ca exchanger-1 (NCX1) isoforms, namely NCX1.3 and NCX1.7. To examine the existence of a possible functional difference between these splice variants, they were cloned, together with the heart variant NCX1.1, and expressed in human embryonic kidney-293 (HEK293) and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. In these two systems, the three splice variants showed a comparable level of intracellular Na+ (Na+(i))-dependent extracellular Ca2+(Ca2+(o)) uptake. Different levels of NCX1.3 and NCX1.7 transcripts were found in four rodent species, together with a marked interspecies difference in Na/Ca exchange activity. Three additional splice variants were found (NCX1.2, NCX1.9 and NCX1.13) in guinea-pigs, hamsters and mice, again in different proportions. Our data provide evidence for the activity of the three NCX1 splice variants. They also show the existence of a differential and species-specific transcription pattern of NCX1 gene products in pancreatic islet cells.