Diacylglycerol (DG) kinase attenuates the level of the second messenger DG in signal transduction, and therefore possibly modulates protein kinase C (PKC). DG kinase was purified to homogeneity from human white blood cells, showing an M 1 of 86 kDa as determined by SDS‐PAGE and gel filtration. Two amino acid sequences of tryptic peptides from DG kinase were determined and degenerate oligonucleotides were prepared and used in the polymerase chain reaction. An amplified DNA fragment was subsequently used to clone the full‐length human DG kinase cDNA. This sequence is the human homolog of porcine DG kinase cDNA sequence reported recently [1]. The sequence contains a double EF‐ hand structure typical for Ca2+ binding proteins. DG kinase further contains a double cysteine repeat that is present in all PKC isoforms, where it constitutes the phorbol ester (and most likely diacylglycerol) binding site. Therefore we speculate that the double cysteine repeat in DG kinase is involved in DG binding. DG kinase is transcribed as a single mRNA of 3.2 kb, that is highly expressed in T‐lymphocytes. The human DG kinase cDNA when transfected in mammalian cells (COS‐7) results in a 6–7‐fold increase of DG kinase activity.

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a simple phospholipid that possesses hormone- and growth-factor-like properties. LPA initiates its action by inducing GTP-dependent phosphoinositide hydrolysis and inhibiting adenylate cyclase [van Corven, Groenink, Jalink, Eichholtz & Moolenaar (1989) Cell 59, 45-54]. Here we show that LPA stimulates rapid breakdown of phosphatidylcholine (PC) in Rat-1 fibroblasts. LPA-induced PC breakdown occurs through activation of phospholipase D (PLD), as measured by the formation of free choline and phosphatidic acid and by transphosphatidylation in the presence of butan-1-ol. LPA also stimulates generation of diacylglycerol, but there is no detectable formation of phosphocholine, suggesting that a PC-specific phospholipase C (PLC) is not involved. The response to LPA was compared with that to endothelin, a potent inducer of phospholipid hydrolysis but a poor mitogen for Rat-1 cells. Our results indicate that: (1) LPA is less efficient than endothelin in inducing phosphoinositide and PC breakdown; (2) LPA-induced PLD activation is short-lived, levelling off after 2 min, whereas the endothelin-stimulated increase in PLD activity persists for at least 1 h; (3) the effect of LPA on PLD, like that of endothelin, is blocked by long-term pretreatment of the cells with phorbol ester, suggesting that PLD activation occurs through a protein kinase C-dependent mechanism. Furthermore, our results support the notion that there is no simple causal relationship between the degree of agonist-induced phospholipid hydrolysis and the magnitude of the mitogenic response.

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Diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) phosphorylates the second messenger diacylglycerol (DAG) to phosphatidic acid. We previously identified DGK as one of nine mammalian DGK isoforms and reported on its regulation by interaction with RhoA and by translocation to the plasma membrane in response to noradrenaline. Here, we have investigated how the localization of DGK, fused to green fluorescent protein, is controlled upon activation of G protein-coupled receptors in A431 cells. Extracellular ATP, bradykinin, or thrombin induced DGK translocation from the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane within 2-6 min. This translocation, independent of DGK activity, was preceded by protein kinase C (PKC) translocation and was blocked by PKC inhibitors. Conversely, activation of PKC by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate induced DGK translocation. Membrane-permeable DAG (dioctanoylglycerol) also induced DGK translocation but in a PKC (staurosporin)-independent fashion. Mutations in the cysteinerich domains of DGK abrogated its hormone-and DAGinduced translocation, suggesting that these domains are essential for DAG binding and DGK recruitment to the membrane. We show that DGK interacts selectively with and is phosphorylated by PKC⑀ and -and that peptide agonist-induced selective activation of PKC⑀ directly leads to DGK translocation. Our data are consistent with the concept that hormone-induced PKC activation regulates the intracellular localization of DGK, which may be important in the negative regulation of PKC⑀ and/or PKC activity.