We have identified and highly purified a "low Km" cAMP phosphodiesterase from bovine cardiac muscle. This phosphodiesterase was inhibited by low concentrations of cGMP and has, therefore, been temporarily designated as cGMP-inhibited phosphodiesterase. After a 16,000-fold increase in specific activity, the highly purified enzyme had a specific activity of 6 mumol/min-mg and contained three major polypeptides. Initial data indicated that all of these polypeptides were derived from a single common precursor by proteolysis. We used this enzyme preparation to generate polyclonal antisera and monoclonal antibodies directed against the "low Km" phosphodiesterase. Immunoadsorption and immunoblot analysis allowed us to identify and isolate several molecular weight species of phosphodiesterase, including a larger form than previously reported for any purified low Km phosphodiesterase. This large form of the enzyme had a subunit molecular weight of approximately 110,000 and was the only one seen in fresh extracts of cardiac muscle. Full catalytic activity was recovered in the phosphodiesterase-antibody complex and enzyme prepared by immunoprecipitation exhibited Michaelis-Menten kinetics for cAMP hydrolysis and for inhibition by cGMP. The Km for cAMP hydrolysis was 0.15 microM and the Ki for cGMP inhibition of cAMP hydrolysis was 0.06 microM. This immunoprecipitation approach also allowed us to determine that the enzyme was phosphorylated on serine residues by cAMP-dependent protein kinase, and that the low Km, cGMP-inhibited phosphodiesterase was selectively inhibited by several new cardiotonic agents. Milrinone, amrinone, and fenoximone were highly selective inhibitors of this isozyme, and the relative affinities of these inhibitors were consistent with their order of potency as positive inotropic agents. These studies suggest that the cGMP-inhibited phosphodiesterase is a receptor for several new cardiotonic drugs.