The effect of porcine brain natriuretic peptide (pBNP) on cyclic GMP accumulation was studied in the kidney epithelial cell line, LLC-PK1. The addition of pBNP to the LLC-PK1 cells produced a time- and concentration-dependent increase in cyclic GMP accumulation and this effect was equipotent to that of alpha-human atrial natriuretic peptide (alpha-hANP). The simultaneous addition of pBNP and alpha-hANP at the maximal effective concentration of 10(-6) M did not have an additive effect on the cyclic GMP contents. The findings suggest that pBNP and alpha-hANP may share the same receptor in the LLC-PK1 cells.