Receptors were identified pharmacologically in functional studies where K+ secretion was monitored as transepithelial current (Isc). Further, receptors were identified as transcripts by cloning and sequencing of reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) products. Isc under control conditions was 796 ± 15 μA/cm2 (n= 329) in gerbilline VDC and 900 ± 75 μA/cm2 (n= 6) in murine VDC. Forskolin (10−5 m) but not 1,9-dideoxy-forskolin increased Isc by a factor of 1.42 ± 0.05 (n= 7). 10−9 m Arg8-vasopressin and 10−9 m desmopressin had no significant effect in gerbilline and murine VDC. Isoproterenol, norepinephrine, epinephrine and prenalterol stimulated Isc maximally by a factor of 1.38 ± 0.04 (n= 7), 1.59 ± 0.06 (n= 6), 1.64 ± 0.03 (n= 8) and 1.37 ± 0.03 (n= 6), respectively. The EC50 values were (1.4 ± 0.7) × 10−8 m (n= 36), (2.5 ± 1.0) × 10−8 m (n= 31), (1.7 ± 0.7) × 10−7 m (n= 36) and (5 ± 4) × 10−7 m (n= 32), respectively. Propanolol inhibited isoproterenol-induced stimulation of Isc. Atenolol, ICI118551 and CGP20712A inhibited isoproterenol-induced stimulation of Isc with a pKDB of 5.0 × 10−8 m (pKDB= 7.30 ± 0.07, n= 38), 4.4 × 10−8 m (pKDB= 7.36 ± 0.14, n= 37) and 6.8 × 10−12 m (pKDB= 11.17 ± 0.12, n= 37), respectively. RT-PCR of total RNA isolated from microdissected vestibular labyrinth tissue using specific primers revealed products of the predicted sizes for β1- and β2-adrenergic receptors but not for β3-adrenergic receptors. Sequence analysis of the amplified cDNA fragments from gerbilline tissues revealed a 96.4%, 91.5% and 89.6% identity compared to rat β1-, β2- and β3-adrenergic receptors, respectively. These results demonstrate that K+ secretion in VDC is under the control of β1- but not β2- or β3-adrenergic receptors or vasopressin-receptors.