A synthetic peptide of the NH2-terminal inactivation domain of the ShB channel blocks Shaker channels which have an NH2-terminal deletion and mimics many of the characteristics of the intramolecular inactivation reaction. To investigate the role of electrostatic interactions in both peptide block and the inactivation process we measured the kinetics of block of macroscopic currents recorded from the intact ShB channel, and from ShB delta 6-46 channels in the presence of peptides, at different ionic strengths. The rate of inactivation and the association rate constants (k(on)) for the ShB peptides decreased with increasing ionic strength. k(on) for a more positively charged peptide was more steeply dependent on ionic strength consistent with a simple electrostatic mechanism of enhanced diffusion. This suggests that a rate limiting step in the inactivation process is the diffusion of the NH2-terminal domain towards the pore. The dissociation rates (k(off)) were insensitive to ionic strength. The temperature dependence of k(on) for the ShB peptide was very high, (Q10 = 5.0 +/- 0.58), whereas k(off) was relatively temperature insensitive (Q10 approximately 1.1). The results suggest that at higher temperatures the proportion of time either the peptide or channel spends in the correct conformation for binding is increased. There were two components to the time course of recovery from block by the ShB peptide, indicating two distinct blocked states, one of which has similar kinetics and dependence on external K+ concentration as the inactivated state of ShB. The other is voltage-dependent and at -120 mV is very unstable. Increasing the net charge on the peptide did not increase sensitivity to knock-off by external K+. We propose that the free peptide, having fewer constraints than the tethered NH2-terminal domain binds to a similar site on the channel in at least two different conformations.