Adenylyl cyclase is the prototypical second messenger generator. Nearly all of the eight cloned adenylyl cyclases are regulated by one or other arm of the phospholipase C pathway. Functional and ultrastructural investigations have shown that adenylyl cyclases are intimately associated with sites of calcium ion entry into the cell. Oscillations in cellular cyclic AMP levels are predicted to arise because of feedback inhibition of adenylyl cyclase by Ca2+. Such findings inextricably intertwine cellular signalling by cAMP and internal Ca2+ and extend the known regulatory modes available to cAMP.