The receptor for neuromedin B (NMB-R), a mammalian bombesin-related peptide, is widely distributed in the central nervous system and gastrointestinal tract. While it is known that this receptor is coupled to phospholipase C, like many other phospholipase C-activating receptors, little is known about regulation of the NMB-R subsequent to agonist stimulation. We studied both native NMB-R on C-6 rat glioblastoma cells and wild type NMB-R cloned from rat esophageal muscle which was stably transfected into Balb/3T3 fibroblasts. Both cell types rapidly increased [3H]inositol phosphates and [Ca2+]i in response to 1 microM NMB, whereas preincubation with 3 nM NMB for 3 h markedly attenuated the ability of 1 microM NMB, but not 1 microM endothelin-1, to alter either cell type's biological activity. Prolonged exposure to 3 nM NMB caused a rapid decrease in the number of NMB-R, with the maximal receptor down-regulation seen at 24 h due to NMB-R internalization. After maximal down-regulation, removal of agonist resulted in a rapid restoration of NMB-R to the cell surface of both cell types. NMB-R recovery at 6 h was blocked by monensin, an inhibitor of receptor recycling, but was not affected by cycloheximide, a protein synthesis inhibitor. Resensitization to agonist paralleled the recovery of NMB-R in both cell types, and resensitization likewise was blocked by monensin. Our data demonstrate that the NMB-R undergoes rapid homologous desensitization consequent to agonist stimulation, which is mediated by receptor down-regulation and which, in turn, is regulated by internalization. During resensitization, NMB-R reappearance on the cell surface membrane is independent of protein synthesis and is due to a recycling from an intracellular site.