Atrial, brain-type, and C-type natriuretic peptides (ANP, BNP, and CNP) act via receptors with intrinsic guanylate cyclase activity. The A-type and B-type ANP receptors are selectively activated by ANP and CNP, respectively. The anterior pituitary is a site of ANP production and action, suggesting a local regulatory function, and this may also hold true for CNP which is found at its highest tissue concentrations in the anterior pituitary. Here we show that these peptides all cause dose-dependent increases in cGMP accumulation in alpha T3-1 cells (a gonadotrope-derived cell line), GH3 cells, and in primary cultures of rat pituitary cells. The response to CNP is particularly robust in alpha T3-1 cells (59 +/- 9-fold increase, EC50 14 +/- 3 nM), and the rank order of potency in alpha T3-1 cells and primary cultures (CNP >> ANP > BNP) is suggestive of action exerted via B-type receptors. Although CNP did not alter GnRH-stimulated LH release or [3H]inositol phosphate accumulation, GnRH reduced CNP-stimulated cGMP accumulation dose dependently (EC50 approximately 0.1 nM). This inhibition reflects the ability of GnRH to shift the CNP dose-response curve rightward (increasing the EC50 for CNP action approximately 10-fold both with and without 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine). The inhibitory effect was not blocked by omission of extracellular Ca++ nor mimicked by the Ca++ ionophore A23187 but was mimicked by a protein kinase C (PKC)-activating phorbol ester (which had a comparable effect to GnRH on the EC50 for CNP action). The data imply that CNP rather than (or in addition to) ANP may have a local regulatory function within the pituitary, that although its role is currently unknown it may involve functional interaction with GnRH in gonadotropes, and that the effect of GnRH on CNP action may be PKC-mediated. Moreover, we suggest that alpha T3-1 cells may be a useful model for investigation of the cross-talk between the B-type natriuretic peptide receptor-regulated signal transduction pathway and the Ca++/PKC pathway activated by ligand-stimulated hydrolysis of inositol phospholipids.