Activation of the muscarinic receptor in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells results in a reversal of the malignant phenotype for which spreading into a bipolar, fibroblastic morphology is a marker. The process of morphologic change requires multiple events, including alterations in adhesions to substrates and cytoskeletal re-arrangement. In this report, we demonstrate the calcium-dependent involvement of p125 FAK in this cellular shape change using an inhibitor of ligand-induced calcium influx, carboxyamido-triazole (CAI). p125 FAK becomes tyrosine-phosphorylated after exposure to the agonist carbachol (CC), reaching maximal phosphorylation prior to initiation of cellular shape change at 1 hr into CC exposure (386 6 103%). Phosphorylation remained elevated through the shape change (4-12 hr The Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) m5 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (m5AChR) tumor-suppressor model is a unique model in which to study spreading-related signal-transduction events . CHO cells stably transfected with m5AChR undergo a morphologic change from stellate to fibroblastic when stimulated with the specific muscarinic agonist carbachol (CC). This shape change is associated with a marked reduction in the ability of CHOm5 cells to form tumors in nude mice . The m5AChR is coupled to multiple signal-transduction pathways, including membrane-associated phospholipases (C-b, C-g, A2 and D), release of internal Ca 21 stores, stimulation of Ca 21 influx through receptor-operated Ca 21 channels and activation of adenylyl cyclase (Felder, 1995;Felder et al., 1993;Gusovsky et al., 1993). The shape change was shown to be dependent upon m5AChR-mediated mobilization of intracellular Ca 21 or cAMP (Felder et al., , 1994Singer-Lahat et al., 1996). We have shown that this calcium influx can be inhibited by concomitant exposure to carboxyamido-triazole (CAI), an inhibitor of nonvoltage-gated calcium influx, at CAI concentrations that inhibit migration, proliferation and angiogenesis (Felder et al., 1991Kohn et al., 1994aKohn et al., , 1995. CAI blockade of CC-mediated calcium influx prevented the phenotypic change of CHOm5 cells . This spreading during the shape change provides a unique model in which to investigate the temporal nature and Ca 21 sensitivity of the signaling events underlying this tumor-suppression model.Cells interact with their extracellular environment, the extracellular matrix and basement membrane, through cell-surface contacts termed focal adhesions. Focal-adhesion contacts contain regions of enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation through which cytoskeletal elements may couple to membrane-associated signal-transducing pathways (Hansen et al., 1994;Maher et al., 1985). These points of contact are regulated in a complex fashion involving cell interaction with the extracellular substratum and subsequent outside-in signaling to direct cellular re-organization. Down-stream effector events are also complex, involving several signaling cascades, such as mobilization of intracellular Ca 21 , phosphorylation and generation of leu...