Generation of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (Ins(1,4,5)P 3 ), 1 a Ca 2ϩ -mobilizing second messenger, is critical in mediating responses to hormone stimulation in a wide variety of cell types (1). Activation of phospholipase C (PLC) generates both Ins(1,4,5)P 3 and sn-1,2-diacylglycerol from the precursor phospholipid PtdIns(4,5)P 2 . However, all known PLC isozymes have the capacity to hydrolyze PtdIns and PtdIns(4)P as well as PtdIns(4,5)P 2 , although with lower potency (2, 3). While there is some difference in substrate selectivity between the three PLC classes (, ␥, and ␦), activity toward PtdIns(4,5)P 2 is somewhat higher than toward PtdIns(4)P when measurements are made using PLCs reconstituted in lipid vesicles (2, 3). Nonetheless, this suggests the possibility that cleavage of PtdIns(4)P in addition to PtdIns(4,5)P 2 could be a substantial contributor to the overall InsP response. Early studies of InsP responses led to the suggestion that generation of Ins(1,4,5)P 3 takes place during the initial stage of agonist stimulation, while the sustained InsP response depends on cleavage of PtdIns to Ins(1)P (4 -6). However, the lack of potent, readily available inhibitors of Ins(1,4,5)P 3 metabolism has meant that such ideas have never been substantiated, and Ins(1,4,5)P 3 has generally been assumed to be the primary source of all InsPs that accumulate in response to receptor stimulation, including InsPs generated in the myocardium.Beat-to-beat regulation of cardiac muscle Ca 2ϩ is primarily controlled by ryanodine receptors on the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Ins(1,4,5)P 3 -mediated Ca 2ϩ responses in cardiac myocytes are relatively slow and weak and have been characterized as Ca 2ϩ oscillations (7, 8) which have potential proarrhythmic activity. Intracellular application of Ins(1,4,5)P 3 causes action potential prolongation and degeneration (9) including activation of proarrhythmic sodium-calcium exchange (10). Furthermore, arrhythmias occurring during ischemia and reperfusion correlate with cardiac Ins(1,4,5)P 3 content (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). In the face of evidence for a pathological role of Ins(1,4,5)P 3 in the myocardium (reviewed in Ref. 18), it is important to better understand the mechanisms responsible for its generation in cardiac myocytes and also the mechanisms suppressing its generation under physiological circumstances.Rat neonatal cardiomyocytes (NCM) represent a convenient system for the modelling of myocardial signaling. InsP responses to norepinephrine (NE) in myocytes are mediated via ␣ 1 -adrenergic receptors, coupling via G q to PLC- isoforms (19,20) of which PLC-1 and PLC-3 are expressed in heart (21-23). Our initial studies indicated that NE stimulation in NCM was largely insensitive to the PtdIns(4,5)P 2 -binding agent neomycin (24), unlike findings in other cell types, implying that responses are largely independent of Ins(1,4,5)P 3 . This prompted us to examine the source of InsPs in NCM generated in response to ␣ 1 -adrenergic activation. In this study, we present the first dire...