Although dopamine inhibits PRL release from the normal anterior pituitary lactotroph, a conclusive demonstration of the mechanisms involved in this response has been impeded by the presence of other cell types in the anterior pituitary. To circumvent this problem, we have isolated a clonal cell line, designated MMQ, from the 7315a rat pituitary tumor. The MMQ cell is an exemplary model for our use because it only secretes PRL. Our studies show that dopamine inhibits secretagogue-induced PRL release from these cells. In addition, dopamine decreases the intracellular cAMP concentration in MMQ cells that have been exposed to forskolin, cholera toxin, or vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, each a stimulator of cAMP generation. This inhibition is, in turn, reversed by the dopamine antagonist haloperidol and by pertussis toxin, an inactivator of the GTP-binding coupling protein. Dopamine also decreases the uptake and fractional efflux of 45Ca2+ by MMQ cells that have been exposed to the calcium channel activator maitotoxin. It seems, therefore, that dopamine decreases PRL release from MMQ cells at least in part by decreasing intracellular cAMP levels and calcium uptake. In additional experiments, we have found that MMQ cells are responsive to somatostatin, estrogen, progesterone, and acetylcholine, but not to TRH, angiotensin II, neurotensin, or bombesin. Furthermore, these cells possess a functional protein kinase-C system, as evidenced by the increase in PRL release and decrease in stimulated intracellular cAMP levels that occur in response to treatment with phorbol diesters. We suggest that the MMQ cell line will prove a useful model system for study of the biochemical effects of dopamine and other factors that modify PRL release.