Sphingosine-1-phosphate (SPP) produced from sphingosine by sphingosine kinase has recently been reported to act as intracellular second messenger for a number of plasma membrane receptors. In the present study, we investigated whether the sphingosine kinase/SPP pathway is involved in cellular signaling of the G i proteincoupled formyl peptide receptor in myeloid differentiated human leukemia (HL-60) cells. Receptor activation resulted in rapid and transient production of SPP by sphingosine kinase, which was abolished after pertussis toxin treatment. Direct activation of heterotrimeric G proteins by AlF 4 Ϫ also rapidly increased SPP formation in intact HL-60 cells. In cytosolic preparations of HL-60 cells, sphingosine kinase activity was stimulated by the stable GTP analog, guanosine 5-O-(3-thiotriphosphate). Inhibition of sphingosine kinase by DL-threo-dihydrosphingosine and N,N-dimethylsphingosine did not affect phospholipase C stimulation and superoxide production but markedly inhibited receptor-stimulated Ca 2؉ mobilization and enzyme release. We conclude that the formyl peptide receptor stimulates through G i -type G proteins SPP production by sphingosine kinase, that the enzyme is also stimulated by direct G protein activation, and that the sphingosine kinase/SPP pathway apparently plays an important role in chemoattractant signaling in myeloid differentiated HL-60 cells.During the last few years, it has become clear that sphingolipids, in addition to being structural constituents of cell membranes, are sources of important signaling molecules. Particularly, the sphingolipid metabolites, ceramide and sphingosine-1-phosphate (SPP), 1 have emerged as a new class of potent bioactive molecules, implicated in a variety of cellular processes such as cell differentiation, apoptosis, and proliferation (1-4). Interest in SPP focused recently on two distinct cellular actions of this lipid, namely its function as extracellular ligand activating specific G protein-coupled membrane receptors and its role as intracellular second messenger (5). Important clues to a specific intracellular action of SPP were the following findings. First, activation of various plasma membrane receptors, such as the platelet-derived growth factor receptor (6, 7), the Fc⑀RI (8), and the Fc␥RI antigen receptors (9), was found to rapidly increase intracellular SPP production through stimulation of sphingosine kinase. Second, inhibition of sphingosine kinase stimulation strongly reduced or even prevented cellular events triggered by these tyrosine kinase-linked receptors, such as receptor-stimulated DNA synthesis, Ca 2ϩ mobilization, and vesicular trafficking (6,8,9). Finally, intracellular SPP was found to mimic the receptor responses, i.e. it stimulated DNA synthesis and mobilized Ca 2ϩ from internal stores (10 -14). We recently reported that the G protein-coupled muscarinic acetylcholine receptor subtypes m2 and m3 expressed in HEK-293 cells also induce a rapid and transient SPP production by sphingosine kinase. Furthermore, intracellular in...