Exogenous ATP stimulated phospholipase D (PLD), but not sphingomyelinase in rat submandibular gland (SMG) acini. PLD activation was dependent upon extracellular Ca(2+) and did not involve intracellular Ca(2+) mobilization or phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C activation. ATP-stimulated PLD was attenuated by inhibition or downregulation of protein kinase C (PKC). PLD activation was fully blocked by the cytosolic phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)) inhibitor ONO-RS-082 and partially attenuated by the selective Ca(2+)-dependent cytosolic PLA(2) inhibitor, arachidonyl trifluoromethylketone (AACOCF(3)), or by bromoenol lactone, an inhibitor of Ca(2+)-independent cytosolic PLA(2). Magnesium, which decreases the concentration of ATP(4-), and nickel, which blocks nonspecific cation channels coupled to purinergic receptors, inhibited PLD activation by ATP. Using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Northern blotting techniques, we demonstrated that the PLD isoform stimulated by ATP was PLD-2. Among various ATP analogs, only the P2Z/P2X(7) purinergic receptor agonist benzoyl-benzoyl ATP stimulated PLD-2. The response to ATP was inhibited by the nonselective P2X purinergic antagonist suramin and by oxidized ATP, a potent P2Z/P2X(7) receptor antagonist. It is concluded that in rat SMG acinar cells, PLD-2 is upregulated by exogenous ATP through a mechanism involving Ca(2+) influx, cytosolic PLA(2), and PKC. Also, the data suggest an involvement of P2X(7) receptors in PLD-2 stimulation by ATP.