The influence of somatostatin was studied on cyclic AMP levels and adenylate cyclase activity in cyc-variants of S49 lymphoma cells. These cells are deficient in the guanine nucleotide site that mediates hormone-induced adenylate cyclase stimulation, but their cyclase can be stimulated by forskolin. Somatostatin maximally decreased the 30 ,LM forskolin-stimulated cyclic AMP levels by 35%. Half-maximal suppression occurred at about 0.1 nM somatostatin. Somatostatin (up to 1 ,LM) had no effect on the 100 ,LM forskolin-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in cycmembrane preparations when guanine nucleotides were not present. In the presence of GTP, however, which by itself caused a small decrease in activity, somatostatin maximally inhibited the enzyme by 20-25%. GTP was half-maximally effective at O.1 j.M, and half-maximal inhibition by somatostatin was observed at 0.1-1 nM. In the presence of the stable GTP analog guanosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (1 ,uM), which decreased the stimulated activity by about 40% after a short lag period, somatostatin (1 ,uM) did not cause a further decrease in final activity but reduced the lag period by about 50%. The data indicate that membranes of cyc variants contain a regulatory site that mediates both guanine nucleotide and hormone-induced inhibition of the adenylate cyclase and suggest that the mechanisms of activation and inactivation of this inhibitory site are similar to those of the stimulatory component missing in cyc-membranes.