The bradykinin B2 receptor mediates the effect of kinin. In order to understand the structure and regulation of its expression, we have cloned and sequenced the gene encoding the rat bradykinin B2 receptor and its 5' flanking region from a rat genomic library. The B2 receptor gene spans 7.3 kb in length and contains three exons which are separated by two introns. It encodes a peptide of 366 amino acids. The transcription initiation site was mapped by the primer extension assay. A variant TATA box sequence, an IL-6 response element and a cAMP response element were identified in the 5' flanking region of the rat bradykinin B2 receptor gene.