In sympathetic neurons, catecholamines interact with prejunctional alpha-adrenergic receptors to reduce delivery of transmitter to postjunctional target organs. This autoinhibitory feedback is a general phenomenon seen in diverse neurons containing a variety of transmitters. The underlying mechanisms of alpha-adrenergic inhibition are not clear, although decreases in cyclic AMP and cAMP-mediated phosphorylation have been implicated. We have studied depolarization-induced catecholamine release and calcium-channel currents in frog sympathetic neurons. Here we show that alpha-adrenergic inhibition of transmitter release can be explained by inhibition of Ca2+-channel currents and not by modulation of intracellular proteins. Noradrenaline strongly reduces the activity of N-type Ca2+ channels, the dominant calcium entry pathway triggering sympathetic transmitter release, whereas L-type Ca2+ channels are not significantly inhibited. The down-modulation of N-type channels involves changes in rapid gating kinetics but not in unitary flux. This is the first detailed description of inhibition of a high-voltage activated neuronal Ca2+ channel at the single-channel level. The coupling between alpha-adrenergic receptors and N-type channels involves a G protein, but not a readily diffusible cytoplasmic messenger or protein kinase C, and may be well suited for rapid and spatially localized feedback-control of transmitter release.