Addition of bacterial sphingomyelinase to quiescent Swiss 3T3 cells effectively potentiated the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-stimulated cell proliferation, though the enzyme by itself had little effect on the cell proliferation. Such potentiation of the cell growth could also be observed by the addition of ceramide, a product of the sphingomyelinase-catalysed reaction. In contrast, phosphocholine, another product of the enzyme reaction, had no synergistic effect on the action of PDGF. Treatment of the cells with sphingomyelinase or ceramide increased the cellular activity of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAP kinases), which have been implicated in the regulation of cell proliferation. However, the synergistic effect of sphingomyelinase on the PDGF-induced cell growth could still be observed even when the cellular MAP kinase activity was fully activated by the growth factor alone. These results indicate that a ceramide-mediated cellular event(s) other than the MAP kinase activation is potentially involved in the regulation of cell growth.