The levels of beta 1- and beta 3-adrenoreceptor mRNAs in several rat tissues were determined simultaneously with a sensitive nuclease protection assay. The beta 1-receptor gene was expressed to varying degrees in most tissues examined. By contrast, high levels of beta 3-receptor mRNA were only found in brown and white adipose tissues, indicating that beta 3-receptor gene expression is essentially adipose tissue specific. Surgical sympathectomy of interscapular brown adipose tissue increased beta 3-receptor mRNA levels by 2.4-fold, but did not affect beta 1-receptor mRNA levels. Exposure of rats to 4 C, which increases sympathetic nerve stimulation of IBAT, reduced beta 3-receptor mRNA levels in intact tissue but did not affect the denervation-induced increase in beta 3-receptor mRNA. Acute treatment of rats with norepinephrine greatly reduced beta 3 mRNA levels in both white and brown adipose tissues, but did not alter beta 1-receptor mRNA levels. These results indicate that beta 1- and beta 3-receptor mRNAs are differentially regulated and that norepinephrine released from sympathetic nerves is an important inhibitory regulator of beta 3-receptor mRNA levels. Injections of the beta-receptor agonist isoproterenol and the beta 3-receptor agonist BRL 26830 each reduced beta 3-receptor mRNA in brown and white fat, whereas injections of glucagon reduced beta 3-receptor mRNA in brown fat only. These data indicate that while stimulation of beta 3-receptors is sufficient to down-regulate beta 3 mRNA, other receptors that stimulate adenylyl cyclase have the same effect. Finally, the agonist-induced down-regulation of beta 3-receptor mRNA was associated with a reduction in beta 3-receptor activation of adenylyl cyclase in white adipose tissue.