We examined the mechanisms of maitotoxin (MTX), a water-soluble polyether from the marine dinoflagellate Gambierdiscus toxicus, in stimulation of Ca2+ entry into Mardin-Darby canine kidney cells. In the presence of bath Ca2+, MTX (3 nM) caused an elevation of the intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i), which was partially inhibited by SK&F 96365 (25 microM) or La3+ (100 microM). A stimulation of Ca(2+)-dependent K+ channels in cell-attached membrane patches coincided with this rise in [Ca2+]i and was also partially inhibited by SK&F 96365. Before the rise in [Ca2+]i, a nonselective cation current (Ins), studied by the whole-cell patch-clamp technique, was irreversibly activated. Ins poorly discriminated between Na+, K+, and Cs+, was unaffected by replacement of Cl- with gluconate-, and was not voltage gated. MTX-induced Ins was partially blocked by La3+ ions (100 microM) but not by SK&F 96365 (25 microM) or nifedipine (10 microM). SK&F 96365 by itself induced a small but significant stimulation of Ins and a rise in [Ca2+]i. The activation of Ins by MTX was instantaneous and depended on the presence of extracellular Ca2+ ions. In the absence of other cations, the inward current of Ins was dependent on the bath Ca2+ concentration. Cell-attached and excised single-channel measurements revealed that MTX activated a SK&F 96365-insensitive, approximately 40-pS, nonselective cation channel from the outside. We conclude that the initial action of MTX is the stimulation of a nonselective cation channel, which requires the presence of extracellular Ca2+ ions. The subsequent rise in [Ca2+]i is at least in part caused by another, SK&F 96365-sensitive, Ca2+ entry pathway, which may be activated as a result of or independently of Ins.