objective: The cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2), which mediates intracellular Ca2+ release to trigger cardiomyocyte contraction, participates in development of acquired and inherited arrhythmogenic cardiac disease. This study was undertaken to characterize the network of inter- and intra-subunit interactions regulating the activity of the RyR2 homotetramer. results: We use mutational investigations combined with biochemical assays to identify the peptide sequence bridging the β8 with β9 strand as the primary determinant mediating RyR2 N-terminus self-association. The negatively-charged side chains of two aspartate residues (D179 and D180) within the β8-β9 loop are crucial for the N-terminal inter-subunit interaction. We also show that the RyR2 N-terminus domain interacts with the C-terminal channel pore region in a Ca2+-independent manner. The β8-β9 loop is required for efficient RyR2 subunit oligomerization but it is dispensable for N-terminus interaction with C-terminus. Deletion of the β8-β9 sequence produces unstable tetrameric channels with subdued intracellular Ca2+ mobilization implicating a role for this domain in channel opening. The arrhythmia-linked R176Q mutation within the β8-β9 loop decreases N-terminus tetramerization but does not affect RyR2 subunit tetramerization or the N-terminus interaction with C-terminus. RyR2R176Q is a characteristic hypersensitive channel displaying enhanced intracellular Ca2+ mobilization suggesting an additional role for the β8-β9 domain in channel closing. conclusions: These results suggest that efficient N-terminus inter-subunit communication mediated by the β8-β9 loop may constitute a primary regulatory mechanism for both RyR2 channel activation and suppression. unassigned: Our findings that the RyR2 β8-β9 loop is involved in both Ca2+ release channel opening and closing have important clinical implications. This RyR2 domain is a known "hot-spot" for mutations associated with arrhythmogenic cardiac disease, which could produce hypersensitive as well as hyposensitive channels. Therapeutic strategies currently focus on gain-of-function RyR2 channels to suppress sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release either indirectly with class I/II anti-arrhythmic drugs, or by directly targeting RyR2 to inhibit channel activity. These strategies may not only be ineffective, but they may exacerbate the malignant phenotype in the case of loss-of-function RyR2 mutations.