We have studied the kinetics of the structural transitions induced by calcium binding to the single, regulatory site of cardiac troponin C by measuring the rates of calcium-mediated fluorescence changes with a monocysteine mutant of the protein (C35S) specifically labeled at Cys-84 with the fluorescent probe 2(-)[4'-(iodoacetamido)anilino]naphthalene-6-sulfonic acid. At 4 degrees C, the binding kinetics determined in the presence of Mg2+ was resolved into two phases with positive amplitude, which were completed in less than 100 ms. The rate of the fast phase increased linearly with [Ca2+] reaching a maximum of approximately 590 s-1, and that of the slow phase was approximately 100 s-1 and did not depend on Ca2+ concentration. Dissociation of bound Ca2+ from the regulatory site occurred with a rate of 102 s-1, whereas the dissociation from the two high affinity sites was about two orders of magnitude slower. These results are consistent with the following scheme for the binding of Ca2+ to the regulatory site: [formula: see text] where the asterisks denote states with enhanced fluorescence. The apparent second-order rate constant for calcium binding is Kok1 = 1.4 x 10(8) M 1 s-1. The two first-order transitions occur with observed rates of k1 + kappa-1 approximately 590 s-1 and kappa 2 + kappa-2 approximately 100 s-1, and the binding of Ca2+ to the regulatory site is not a simple diffusion-controlled reaction. These transitions provide the first information on the rates of Ca(2+)-induced conformational changes involving helix movements in the regulatory domain.