Melanostatin, a thirty-six amino acid peptide recently isolated from the frog brain due to its ability to inhibit alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) release, is the amphibian counterpart of mammalian neuropeptide Y (NPY). The effect of synthetic melanostatin on the bioelectrical activity of cultured frog melanotrophs was studied in 124 cells by using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique.