Epinephrine, norepinephrine and phenylephrine stimulate phosphatidylinositol labeling with [32P]Pi in both rat hepatocytes and rabbit aorta. Methoxamine was a full agonist for this effect in rabbit aorta whereas cirazoline and oxymetazoline were partial agonists. In contrast, these three agents (methoxamine, cirazoline and oxymetazoline) were unable to stimulate phosphatidylinositol labeling in rat hepatocytes. Furthermore, cirazoline and oxymetazoline were able to displace the dose-response curve to epinephrine in rat hepatocytes, i.e., they behaved as antagonists. Binding competition curves of these agents with labeled adrenergic ligands indicate that the affinity of alpha 1-adrenergic receptors in these two tissues (aorta and liver) for the different agents tested was very similar. In addition it was observed that phorbol myristate-acetate inhibited in a dose-dependent fashion the epinephrine-mediated stimulation of phosphatidylinositol labeling in hepatocytes but was without effect on the action of the amine in aorta. Our data suggest that stereochemical differences for alpha 1-adrenergic activation in liver and aorta may exist and indicate that the ability of phorbol esters to inhibit alpha 1-adrenergic effects is not universal.