The effects of the calcium channel blocking drug Verapamil and of palmitoyl-carnitine (PTC), an inhibitor of protein-kinase C activity, on human B cell activation were measured. Both Verapamil and PTC inhibited the B cell proliferation induced by costimulation with anti-mu antibody and with 3 different growth factors: interleukin 2, 20-kDa B cell growth factor and 50-kDa B cell growth factor. Both uridine and thymidine incorporation induced by costimulation with ionomycin and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) were inhibited by Verapamil and PTC. In contrast, B cell proliferation was resistant to Verapamil (while being still inhibited by PTC) in two situations: when B cells were costimulated with PMA and growth factors and when B cells previously activated in vitro (by anti-mu antibody or PMA) were stimulated with growth factors. These results confirm that the late stage (G1----S transition) of B cell activation is independent of Ca2+ entry. More importantly, they show that the initial events induced by anti-mu antibody and by PMA are based on different biochemical pathways: PMA would act on a subpopulation of B cells which has already received an early signal of activation in vivo. This emphasizes the functional and biochemical heterogeneity of the G0 stage among circulating B cells.