Isopeptides of the endothelin gene family, including sarafotoxin, caused a concentration-dependent increase in intracellular-free calcium (cytosolic calcium) in cultured human and rat glomerular mesangial cells. The calcium increments had two components, a spike increment resulting from mobilization of intracellular calcium and a sustained calcium increment as a result of endothelin activation of calcium influx. ET-dependent calcium influx occurred through dihydropyridine-insensitive calcium channels which were blocked by NiCl and allowed entry of Mn2+. In human mesangial cells, ET stimulated periodic oscillations of cytosolic Ca2+ that reflect synchronous signalling in localized populations. Calcium signalling evoked by the ET isopeptides showed cross-desensitization among the four ET-peptides tested. Although protein kinase C activation acutely reduced ET-induced calcium signalling, the desensitization by ET isopeptides was independent of protein kinase C. If ET was added to cells incubated with an inhibitor of the endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase, it became apparent that ET activated a calcium efflux pathway which reduced cytosolic calcium. These data, therefore, demonstrate that calcium signalling is a common response in both human and rat cultured mesangial cells incubated with different ET isopeptides.