Thapsigargin and ryanodine are proposed to interfere with Ca2+ storage in sarcoplasmic reticulum by different mechanisms. Thapsigargin inhibits Ca2+ transport into and ryanodine enhances Ca2+ out of the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Contractility studies were performed in the rat aorta and dog mesenteric artery. Ryanodine was found to reduce phenylephrine-induced (10 microM) contraction in Ca(2+)-free medium of rat aorta and dog mesenteric artery in a concentration-dependent manner. Each agent alone caused a slow contraction in the rat aorta. In this tissue, the tension caused by ryanodine (30 microM) but not that by thapsigargin (1 microM) was found to be dependent on the status of the sarcoplasmic reticulum: prior stimulation with K+ (60 mM) enhanced the rate of development of ryanodine-induced tension compared with when the sarcoplasmic reticulum was previously depleted with phenylephrine stimulation in Ca(2+)-free medium. Sodium nitroprusside (1 microM) or isoproterenol (1 microM) fully antagonized the contraction induced by ryanodine or phenylephrine. However, thapsigargin-induced contraction was antagonized fully by sodium nitroprusside and only partially by isoproterenol. This result suggests that cAMP elevation by isoproterenol required a functioning sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ pump for its relaxant effect while cGMP elevation by sodium nitroprusside did not. These findings are consistent with the view that ryanodine promotes Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum and that thapsigargin inhibits the ability of cAMP to stimulate Ca2+ uptake into the store by blocking its Ca2+ pump. In the dog mesenteric artery, when the phenylephrine-sensitive Ca2+ pool was emptied and thapsigargin was added to block Ca2+ uptake into the store, restoration of Ca2+ in the Ca(2+)-free medium caused a transient contraction (absent in controls). This contraction was replaced by a significantly larger amplitude and more sustained contraction in low Na+ medium indicating the involvement of the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger in the homeostasis of cytosolic [Ca2+]. In the presence of nifedipine (2 microM), repletion of the phenylephrine-sensitive store was inhibited. It is possible that refilling occurs in part through L-type Ca2+ channels.