Since the relatively recent advent of radioligand binding techniques, it has been possible to directly identify and characterize hepatic adrenergic receptors as well as study their physiological regulation. While it is now clear that alpha 1-adrenergic receptors constitute the major population of hepatic adrenergic receptors and are primarily responsible for the actions of catecholamines in liver, relatively little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying alpha 1-responses. Recent results suggest that guanine nucleotides may be implicated in the transmission of the hormonal signal from the hepatic alpha 1-receptor to its effectors in a manner analogous to that described for adenylate cyclase-linked receptors. The lack of an easily measurable proximal membrane response for the alpha 1-receptor has been a severe handicap in our understanding of the mechanism of transmission of the hormonal signal. It is likely that until such a response is defined, alpha 1-adrenergic research will continue to lag behind research on the beta-adrenergic receptor.