Stromal cells from fat tissues exhibit properties of mesenchymal stem cells from other sources with the ability to differentiate towards multiple cell types. However, effective differentiation of these mesenchymal cells, called adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs), towards cardiomyogenic lineage has been limited to a small number of isolated clones in an extended culture. Previously, we reported that treatment with phorbol ester induces the expression of several cardiomyogenic genes in the absence of serum. This study was performed to identify the roles of PKC isoforms in cardiomyogenic gene expression of ADSCs. Treatment with 10 nM phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) for 24 h caused sustained increases in mRNA levels for various cardiomyogenic genes, such as Mef2C, cardiac actin and troponin, for at least 6 days following the drug removal. The use of various inhibitors specific for PKC isoforms demonstrated that the novel PKC-theta/delta isoforms mediate the PMA effects. RT-PCR revealed that ADSCs express significant mRNA for PKC-delta, but not theta isoform. Overexpression of cDNA for PKC-delta resulted in marked increases in cardiac mRNA expression. These results indicate that activation of PKC-delta induces the expression of multiple cardiomyogenic genes in ADSCs. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.