Addition of estradiol-17beta in vitro to suspensions of isolated endometrial cells resulted in significant effects on glucose, water and electrolyte metabolism. Cells were prepared from uterine tissues of ovariectomized rats. In part, the procedures involved incubation with collagenase in Ca2+-, Mg2+-free, phosphate-buffered mammalian Ringer's solution, followed by restoration of divalent cations before gentle scraping of the endometrium from the underlying smoothmuscle. Cells were then disaggregated, washed, separated from coarse and fine debris, and incubated in an enriched medium for 2 h before the start of all experiments. Cellular integrity was established by measurement of electrolyte contents and by dye exclusion methods. Substantial production of 14CO2 from glucose-U-14C by the cell suspensions provided further evidence of cell viability. Estradiol-17beta, 10-9M, elicited significant increments in sodium and water contents within 2 h. Addition of estradiol-17beta, but not the alpha-epimer, also resulted in a significant increase in the yield of 14CO2 as early as 1.5 h, peaking at 2 h. The responses were dose-dependent between 10-10M through 10-8M. The stimulatory effect of estradiol-17beta at 10-9M was abolished in the presence of 3 times 10-6M cortisol or by cellular homogenization. Epithelial cells isolated from rat urinary bladder responded significantly to 6 times 10-9M aldosterone but not to estradiol-17beta, demonstrating specificity of the target site. These data lend further support to the suggestion that a primary action of estrogen in its target cell involves specific changes in the ionic and biochemical profile of the cytoplasm which may ultimately be communicated to the nucleus.