The regulation of early and late events of T cell activation via the CD28 molecule has been investigated, using as an indicator system the differentiated leukemic T cell line Jurkat. Both CD3 and CD28 mAbs induced an increase in (Ca2+)i in Jurkat cells, although with different kinetics, the latter being slower than the former. CD28-mediated (Ca2+)i mobilization was highly sensitive to cholera toxin (ID50 25 ng/ml, vs 300 ng/ml for CD3 stimulation). The inhibitory action of cholera toxin was neither merely due to the increase in intracellular cAMP concentrations, nor to decrease in cell surface expression of the CD28 molecule. To evaluate the effects of cholera toxin on late events of Jurkat cell activation induced by CD28 and CD3 mAbs, the action of cholera toxin and cAMP and CD3- and CD28-mediated IL-2 secretion was analyzed. CD3-induced IL-2 secretion was highly sensitive to cholera toxin (ID less than 5 ng/ml); on the other hand, CD28-induced IL-2 secretion was poorly sensitive to cholera toxin, in sharp contrast to (Ca2+)i mobilization. On the basis of these data, it is hypothesized that the CD28 pathway could be associated with at least two distinct transduction mechanisms, one responsible for the (Ca2+)i rise in Jurkat cells and highly sensitive to cholera toxin, and the other, whose second messenger is unknown, resistant to cholera toxin and responsible for IL-2 secretion.