We showed previously that glomerular mesangial cells displayed increased fibronectin, laminin, and type IV collagen synthesis and mRNA levels when grown in medium containing 30 mM glucose compared with those cells grown in 10 mM glucose [S. H. Ayo, R. A. Radnik, W. F. Glass II, J. A. Garoni, E. R. Rampt, D. R. Appling, and J. I. Kreisberg. Am. J. Physiol. 260 (Renal Fluid Electrolyte Physiol. 29): F185-F191, 1990]. However, total protein synthesis and actin mRNA were unchanged. In this report, we show that an increase in medium glucose concentration resulted in an increase in diacylglycerol (DAG) mass and transiently increased protein kinase C (PKC) activity as assessed by the translocation of PKC from the soluble to the particulate fraction. Effects of increased glucose on DAG were evident at 30 min and were maintained through 1 wk of growth in medium containing 30 mM glucose. Although total PKC activity (i.e., soluble plus particulate fractions) did not change with high-glucose treatment, the percent activity associated with the particulate fraction (i.e., activated PKC) increased significantly after 60 min in RPMI 1640 medium with 30 mM glucose. The distribution of PKC returned to control values by 24 h. High glucose did not stimulate phosphoinositide hydrolysis, as evidenced by the absence of an increase in the water-soluble inositol phosphates, indicating that DAG was not generated through the action of a phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C. Cells treated with the cell-permeable DAG analogue 1-oleoyl-2-acetyl glycerol to activate PKC displayed approximately two-fold increases of fibronectin, laminin, and type IV collagen mRNA levels after normalization against actin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)