The interaction between cardiac a,-adrenoceptors and GTP-binding regulatory proteins was characterized in isolated rabbit cardiac myocytes (thereby avoiding interference by other cell types present in the myocardium) by examining the a,-adrenergic stimulation of GTPase activity in sarcolemma-enriched membrane fractions. Stimulation of membrane-associated GTPase activity in both atrial and ventricular myocyte preparations by the a,-adrenergic agonists l-noradrenaline and methoxamine (in the presence of propranolol) was observed to be both linear with time and saturable. a,-adrenergic stimulation did not change the K , for GTP (0.14-0.21 pM), but increased the V,, by 39% and 72% above basal levels in atrial and ventricular membranes, respectively. Stimulation of GTPase activity by a,-agonists occurred in a concentration-dependent fashion and was blocked in the presence of the a-adrenoceptor antagonists phentolamine and prazosin, but not yohimbine. Prior treatment of myocytes with pertussis toxin had no effect on the a,-adrenergic stimulation of GTPase activity, but inhibited stimulation by muscarinic-receptor activation with carbachol. Finally, photoaffinity labelling of an approximately 75-kDa membrane-bound protein with [a-32P]GTP was enhanced in the presence of the a,-agonist methoxamine and abolished by addition of excess nonlabelled GTP, suggesting that this GTP-binding protein may interact with cardiac a,-adrenoceptors ; a similar GTP-binding protein which may be coupled to a,-adrenoceptors has been reported in rat liver plasma membranes (Im, M. J.