Primary myocardial cell cultures and freshly isolated cardiac cells in suspension represent two isolated, whole cell models for investigating cellular transsarcolemmal 45Ca++ exchange in response to a receptor-coupled stimulus. Studies were performed to characterize beta-adrenergic receptor binding, beta-adrenergic receptor mediated cellular calcium (45Ca++) exchange, and viability in purified primary myocardial cell cultures and freshly isolated cardiac cells in suspension obtained from 3- to 5-d-old Sprague-Dawley rats. In addition, beta-adrenergic receptor binding was characterized in whole-heart crude membrane preparations. All three preparations had saturable beta-adrenergic binding sites with the antagonist [125I]iodopindolol [( 125I]IPIN). The suspensions had a significantly lower Bmax (42 +/- 6 fmol/mg protein) than the membranes and cultures (77 +/- 8 and 95 +/- 10 fmol/mg protein, respectively). The KD of the cultures (218 +/- 2.0 pM) was significantly higher than that for the suspensions (107 +/- 1.3 pM) and membranes (93 +/- 1.3 pM). Viability was significantly lower in the suspensions (57%) when compared to 94% viability in myocardial cell cultures after 3 h of incubation in Kreb's Henseleit buffer. Incubation of the cultures with 5.0 X 10(-7) M isoproterenol resulted in a significant increase in 45Ca++ exchange as early as 15 s. In contrast, 45Ca++ exchange into the suspensions was not increased. Although both primary cell cultures and cardiac cells in suspension possess saturable beta-adrenergic receptors, only the monolayer cultures exhibited functional beta-adrenergic receptor-mediated 45Ca++ exchange. Of the two intact cell models investigated, these data suggest that primary myocardial cell cultures are more suitable than cell suspensions for investigating beta-adrenergic receptor binding and functions in the postnatal rat heart.