The effects of cochlioquinone A, isolated from Drechslera sacchari, were studied in vitro and in vivo. This compound specifically inhibited diacylglycerol kinase activity with Ki = 3.1 microM. The kinetics revealed that cochlioquinone A inhibited diacylglycerol kinase in competition with ATP, and non-competitively with diacylglycerol. The compound inhibited neither protein kinase C, epidermal growth factor receptor-associated protein tyrosine kinase, nor phospholipase C. Cochlioquinone A reduced the concentration of phosphatidic acid in T cell lymphoma with a half maximal concentration of 3 microM, and simultaneously augmented the phosphorylation of 80 kDa protein, a known substrate of protein kinase C. The degree of the phosphorylation of 80 kDa protein in the presence of cochlioquinone A was similar to that in the presence of phorbol myristate acetate (0.1 microgram/ml). These results demonstrate that cochlioquinone A is a specific inhibitor of diacylglycerol kinase, which regulates the activity of protein kinase C.