(S1P) is released at sites of tissue injury and effects cellular responses through activation of G protein-coupled receptors. The role of S1P in regulating cardiomyocyte survival following in vivo myocardial ischemiareperfusion (I/R) injury was examined by using mice in which specific S1P receptor subtypes were deleted. Mice lacking either S1P 2 or S1P3 receptors and subjected to 1-h coronary occlusion followed by 2 h of reperfusion developed infarcts equivalent to those of wild-type (WT) mice. However, in S1P2,3 receptor double-knockout mice, infarct size following I/R was increased by Ͼ50%. I/R leads to activation of ERK, JNK, and p38 MAP kinases; however, these responses were not diminished in S1P2,3 receptor knockout compared with WT mice. In contrast, activation of Akt in response to I/R was markedly attenuated in S1P2,3 receptor knockout mouse hearts. Neither S1P2 nor S1P3 receptor deletion alone impaired I/R-induced Akt activation, which suggests redundant signaling through these receptors and is consistent with the finding that deletion of either receptor alone did not increase I/R injury. The involvement of cardiomyocytes in S1P2 and S1P3 receptor mediated activation of Akt was tested by using cells from WT and S1P receptor knockout hearts. Akt was activated by S1P, and this was modestly diminished in cardiomyocytes from S1P2 or S1P3 receptor knockout mice and completely abolished in the S1P2,3 receptor double-knockout myocytes. Our data demonstrate that activation of S1P2 and S1P3 receptors plays a significant role in protecting cardiomyocytes from I/R damage in vivo and implicate the release of S1P and receptor-mediated Akt activation in this process.cardioprotection; mitogen-activated kinase; G protein-coupled receptors; infarct SPHINGOSINE 1-PHOSPHATE (S1P) is a bioactive lysophospholipid generated through the breakdown of sphingomyelin. A number of regulated enzymes, including sphingomyelinase and sphingosine kinase, control its formation (40). A role for S1P in regulating cellular responses to injury and inflammation has become increasingly well accepted. In the heart, as in other tissues, sphingomyelinase is activated by ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) (anoxia-reoxygenation) and by cytokines such as TNF-␣, suggesting that sphingolipid metabolites (ceramide, sphingosine, and S1P) are generated and may participate in cellular responses to these interventions (5,8,12,23). Sphingosine kinase has also been shown to be activated by I/R in the heart (18). Although intracellular actions of sphingomyelin metabolites had been examined for many years, the cloning of G protein-coupled receptors with specificity for S1P led to recognition that sphingolipid-mediated responses are effected, in large part, through extracellular activation of cell surface receptors (6,16,26).The S1P receptors, originally classified into the edg receptor family, are now referred to as S1P 1 -S1P 5 . The S1P 1 (edg1), S1P 2 (edg5), and S1P 3 (edg3) receptors are ubiquitously expressed, whereas the expression of S1P 4 and S1P 5 receptors...