1. Carotid body chemoreceptors were removed intact from adult rats and subjected to protease and collagenase enzymatic digestion of connective tissue. 2. Recordings from the sinus nerve demonstrated that chemotransduction remains intact for at least 2-3 h after isolation, enzyme exposure, and suspension in N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine-N'-2-ethanesulfonic acid (HEPES)-buffered saline at room PO2. 3. After mechanical dissociation, the interrelationship between changes in extracellular PO2 and pH and relative changes in intracellular calcium (Ca2+i) were observed in glomus cells with the use of fluo-3 and confocal microscopy. 4. Brief (60-s) decreases in PO2 from 150 mmHg to near 0 mmHg, at nadir, caused a marked reduction in Ca2+i (peak delta F/F0 = -32 +/- 3%, mean +/- SE, n = 43), which rapidly recovered after reoxygenation. The decrease was reproducible from trial to trial and was also observed in HCO3(-)-buffered Ringer solution. 5. Superfusion with Ca(2+)-free HEPES saline with 1 mM ethylene glycol-bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (EGTA) blocked the hypoxia-induced increase in afferent chemoreceptor activity in vitro. Superfusion of the same solution over isolated cells for 15 min caused a large decrease in Ca2+i (-34 +/- 7%, n = 16). 6. In the presence of Ca(2+)-free HEPES, reoxygenation caused calcium fluorescence to increase. This suggests that the Ca2+ decrease during hypoxia is due, at least partially, to binding to an intracellular site. 7. Extracellular cobalt (1 mM, 15 min) also reversibly blocked the chemoreceptor response to hypoxia, in vitro, and caused a reduction in Ca2+i (delta F/F0 = -37 +/- 8%, n = 11).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)