A series of nicotinamide hypoxanthine 5'-dinucleotide (NHD+) analogues modified at C-8 (2-5) and 7-deaza-NHD+ were synthesized, and cyclization in the presence of Aplysia ADP-ribosyl cyclase was studied. All 8-substituted NHD+ analogues were converted into their N1-cyclic forms by the enzyme, while in contrast, 7-deaza-NHD+ 17 was hydrolyzed into 7-deazainosine 5'-diphosphoribose (7-deaza-IDPR) 25. Correlations are made showing that the conformation of the NHD+ substrate is the key to successful cyclization. The pharmacological activities of these novel cIDPR derivatives were evaluated in both permeabilized and intact Jurkat T-lymphocytes. The results show that in permeabilized cells both 8-iodo 1g and 8-N3-N1-cIDPR 1d have an activity comparable to that of cADPR, while 8-iodo 1g and 8-phenyl-N1-cIDPR 1c have a small but significant effect in intact cells and can therefore be regarded as membrane-permeant; thus, cIDPR derivatives are emerging as important novel biological tools to study cADPR-mediated Ca2+ release in T-cells.