The plasma membrane serves as a dynamic interface that relays information received at the cell surface into the cell. Lipid second messengers coordinate signaling on this platform by recruiting and activating kinases and phosphatases. Specifically, diacylglycerol and phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate activate protein kinase C and Akt, respectively, which then phosphorylate target proteins to transduce downstream signaling. This review addresses how the spatiotemporal dynamics of protein kinase C and Akt signaling can be monitored using genetically encoded reporters and provides information on how the coordination of signaling at protein scaffolds or membrane microdomains affords fidelity and specificity in phosphorylation events. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics 12: 10.1074/mcp.R113.029819, 3498-3508, 2013.The alteration of protein or lipid structure by phosphorylation is one of the most effective ways to transduce extracellular signals into cellular actions. Phosphorylation can alter enzyme activity, regulate protein stability, affect protein interactions or localization, or influence other post-translational modifications. A plethora of cellular processes, including cell growth, differentiation, and migration, are tightly regulated by phosphorylation. Cellular homeostasis is achieved by means of a precisely regulated balance between phosphorylation and dephosphorylation, and disruption of this balance results in pathophysiologies. Kinases and phosphatases are antagonizing effector enzymes that respond to second messengers and mediate phosphorylation/dephosphorylation events.Two prominent lipid second messenger pathways are those mediated by diacylglycerol (DAG) 1 and phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate (PIP 3 ) (Fig. 1A). These membrane-embedded second messengers recruit effector kinases containing specific membrane-targeting modules to membranes, thus activating them. Specifically, DAG recruits C1-domaincontaining proteins, notably protein kinase C (PKC), whereas PIP 3 recruits pleckstrin homology (PH) domain-containing proteins, such as Akt. Specificity and fidelity in signaling are often achieved via the compartmentalization of signaling on protein scaffolds and membrane microdomains, which can control the access of enzymes to particular substrates. In this review, we provide a brief background of the DAG and PIP 3 pathways and their effector kinases, PKC and Akt, respectively. We discuss sensors that have been developed to measure lipid second messenger levels and kinase activity at various subcellular compartments, the role of scaffolds and membrane microdomains in compartmentalizing signaling, and the consequences of dysregulation of second messenger signaling in disease. Lipid Second Messengers-Lipid second messengers are signaling molecules produced in response to extracellular stimuli. Targeting enzymes and their substrates to the same membrane constrains them to a space of reduced dimensionality, thus increasing the apparent concentration of the signaling complex and the likelihood and amp...