Sarafotoxin receptors mediate phosphoinositide hydrolysis in various rat brain regions.

Sarafotoxin-b, a potent snake vasoconstrictor peptide homologous to the mammalian endothelial vasoconstrictor endothelin, induces phosphoinositide (PI) hydrolysis in various brain regions of the rat. Sarafotoxin-b induced PI hydrolysis is largely independent of extracellular Ca2+ and is detected in all brain regions where toxin-binding sites are found. These results point to the existence of a hitherto undetected neuroreceptor associated with the PI cycle.