Exposure of ventricular myocytes in primary culture to triiodothyronine (T3) increased the number of beta 1-adrenergic receptors per cell by 2.1 +/- 0.3-fold (n = 7) within 48 h. Immunoblots of membranes prepared from myocytes revealed a marked increase by T3 in the 64-kDa species of the beta 1-adrenergic receptor. Steady-state levels of beta 1- and beta 2-adrenergic receptor mRNAs quantified by DNA-excess solution hybridization were 0.26 +/- 0.06 and 0.81 +/- 0.05 amol of beta-adrenergic receptor mRNA/micrograms of total cellular RNA, respectively (n = 4). beta 1-Adrenergic receptor mRNA increased to 0.90 +/- 0.07 amol/micrograms RNA by 2-4 h after exposure to T3 and then declined by 6 h to twice that of control cells. beta 2-Adrenergic receptor mRNA levels were unaffected by T3. Northern blot hybridization also showed a rapid and sustained increase of 2.2 +/- 0.4-fold (n = 4) in beta 1-adrenergic receptor mRNA. The rate of beta 1-adrenergic receptor gene transcription assessed by nuclear run-on transcription assays increased by 3.4 +/- 0.4-fold in cells treated for 30 min with T3. Ventricular cells contained nuclear T3 receptors and mRNAs of c-erbA genes that encode T3 binding proteins. These studies indicate that thyroid hormones regulate the cardiac beta-adrenergic receptor-adenylate cyclase system by controlling the rate of transcription of the beta 1-adrenergic receptor gene. This regulation involves nuclear T3 receptors and appears to be exerted in a tissue-specific manner.