Here, we demonstrate that arginine vasopressin (AVP) induces multiple intracellular signal transduction pathways in rat intestinal epithelial IEC-18 cells via a V 1A receptor. Addition of AVP to these cells induces a rapid and transient increase in cytosolic Ca 2ϩ concentration and promotes protein kinase D (PKD) activation through a protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent pathway, as revealed by in vitro kinase assays and immunoblotting with an antibody that recognizes autophosphorylated PKD at Ser 916 . AVP also stimulates the tyrosine phosphorylation of the nonreceptor tyrosine kinase proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2 (Pyk2) and promotes Src family kinase phosphorylation at Tyr 418 , indicative of Src activation. AVP induces extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK)-1 (p44 mapk ) and ERK-2 (p42 mapk ) activation, a response prevented by treatment with mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) inhibitors (PD-98059 and U-0126), specific PKC inhibitors (GF-I and Ro-31-8220), depletion of Ca 2ϩ (EGTA and thapsigargin), selective epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (tyrphostin AG-1478, compound 56), or the selective Src family kinase inhibitor PP-2. Furthermore, AVP acts as a potent growth factor for IEC-18 cells, inducing DNA synthesis and cell proliferation through ERK-, Ca 2ϩ -, PKC-, EGFR tyrosine kinase-, and Src-dependent pathways. arginine vasopressin; protein kinase D; protein kinase C; Src; proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2; intestinal epithelial proliferation THE SEQUENTIAL PROLIFERATION, lineage-specific differentiation, migration, and cell death of epithelial cells of the intestinal mucosa is a tightly regulated process that is modulated by a broad spectrum of regulatory peptides (8,36,70). The nontransformed IEC-6 and IEC-18 cells, derived from rat small intestinal crypt (56), have provided an in vitro model to examine intestinal epithelial cell migration, differentiation, and proliferation (16,27,58,70). Previous studies demonstrated that the proliferation and migration of these intestinal epithelial cells is regulated by a variety of polypeptide growth factors, including epidermal growth factor (EGF), insulin-like growth factor I, and hepatocyte growth factor, which act via single-pass transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptors (3,17,51). Neuropeptides and vasoactive peptides that signal through G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), characterized by seven-transmembrane helices, also act as potent cellular growth factors for a variety of cell types (63,64,66,67). However, the role of GPCRs and their ligands in intestinal epithelial cell signaling and proliferation remains poorly understood.The neurohypophysial nonapeptide arginine vasopressin (AVP), also known as antidiuretic hormone, is traditionally recognized for its role as a vasoconstrictor hormone acting on vascular smooth muscle cells and its antidiuretic effect via the renal collecting system. In addition to its function in the regulation of body fluid osmolality, vascular tone, and blood pressure, AVP acts as a growth-promo...