Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3) caused Ca release and tension development in rabbit main pulmonary artery smooth muscle permeabilized with saponin or digitonin. Both of these responses to single additions of InsP3 (0.5-30 microM) were repeatable and occurred in the presence of 0.0-1.9 mM free Mg2+. Sustained contractions were induced by InsP3. The amount of Ca released by InsP3, measured with a Ca2+-selective electrode, was also estimated to be sufficient to stimulate contraction in intact smooth muscle. Ca release was not influenced by inhibitors of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. The uptake of Ca2+ from the medium into the InsP3-sensitive pool was ATP-dependent. The present results support the hypothesis that, in smooth muscle, InsP3 is the messenger, or one of the messengers, involved in transmitter-induced (pharmacomechanical) Ca release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, which is the intracellular Ca store identified previously as the source of Ca released by norepinephrine in main pulmonary artery.