We have used isolated canine parietal cells to examine the receptor and postreceptor events mediating the inhibitory effects of somatostatin on acid secretion. Somatostatin-14 (S14) and somatostatin-28 (S28) dose dependently inhibited parietal cells stimulated by secretagogues that activate both the adenylate cyclase/cyclic adenosine monophosphate and the inositol phospholipid/protein kinase C cascades. The inhibitory action was mediated via a specific cell surface receptor that consists of a single subunit protein (molecular weight 99,000 d). This receptor recognized S14 and S28 equally well. Somatostatin inhibited parietal cell activity via mechanisms that are both dependent on and independent of a pertussis toxin-sensitive inhibitory guanine nucleotide binding protein.