Receptor] i oscillations.Calcium signaling in non-excitable cells is composed of two components: a release of calcium from intracellular stores and an increased entry of calcium from the extracellular medium. The role of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP 3 ), 1 generated as a result of the receptor activation of phospholipase C, in the release of calcium from specific intracellular stores is well established, but the nature of the calcium entry pathway and its regulation is far from clear. To date, discussion of such calcium entry has generally focused on the so-called "capacitative model," in which calcium entry is activated as a direct consequence of the emptying of the intracellular calcium stores and is independent of how this emptying is actually achieved (1, 2). The precise nature of the mechanism for the activation of capacitative entry is, as yet, unclear, but it may involve the release and/or generation of a diffusible signaling molecule within the cell that activates the plasma membrane channels ("store-operated channels") responsible for calcium entry. Alternatively, a more direct molecular coupling between the stores and the plasma membrane channels may occur (3). Although such capacitative entry can be clearly demonstrated in a wide variety of different cells, it is far from certain that such a mechanism is the only one involved in the increase in calcium entry in non-excitable cells following receptor activation (4, 5). For example, many cells show an oscillatory [Ca 2ϩ ] i signal when stimulated at low agonist concentrations (6, 7), and such signals are associated with an enhanced entry of Ca 2ϩ . However, evidence indicates that the activation of capacitative Ca 2ϩ entry generally requires significantly higher levels of agonist-generated InsP 3 than does the release of Ca 2ϩ from the bulk of the agonist-sensitive internal stores (i.e. at low concentrations of InsP 3 , substantial release of Ca 2ϩ from agonistsensitive stores can occur without any activation of capacitative entry) (8 -10). Consequently, it is far from clear that the transitory (and/or incomplete) nature of calcium store depletion during [Ca 2ϩ ] i oscillations would provide an adequate or appropriate signal for the activation of calcium entry via a capacitative mechanism. Such considerations led us previously to investigate the nature of receptor-activated increases in Ca 2ϩ entry during [Ca 2ϩ ] i oscillations in cells from the exocrine avian nasal gland. In these studies, we showed that such Ca 2ϩ entry was non-capacitative in nature (11) and appeared to involve a novel arachidonate-activated pathway (12).In the experiments reported here, we extend our earlier findings to another, more widely used and functionally less highly specialized cell type, namely HEK293 cells. The specific cell line chosen had been stably transfected with the human m3 muscarinic receptor (m3-mAChR), thereby avoiding possible complications resulting from the presence of multiple muscarinic receptor subtypes. Using this cell line, we were able to s...