(J Mol Cell Cardiol 37: 931-938, 2004). Given that the actin cytoskeleton has been implicated in regulating cardiomyocyte LPL, we examined whether LPL secretion after LPA involves actin cytoskeleton reassembly. Incubation of myocytes with LPA (1-100 nM) increased basal and heparin-releasable LPL (HR-LPL), an effect that was independent of shifts in LPL mRNA. The influence of LPA on myocyte LPL was reflected at the coronary lumen, with substantial increases of the enzyme at this location. Incubation of myocytes with cytochalasin D not only blocked LPA-induced augmentation of HR-LPL but also abrogated filamentous actin formation. These effects of LPA were likely receptor mediated. Exposure of myocytes to LPA facilitated significant membrane translocation of RhoA and its downstream effector Rho kinase I (ROCK I), and blocking this effect with Y-27632 appreciably reduced basal and HR-LPL activity. Incubation of adipose tissue with LPA also significantly enhanced basal and HR-LPL activity, suggesting that sarcomeric actin likely has a limited role in influencing the LPL secretory function of LPA in the myocyte. Comparable to LPA, hyperglycemia also caused significant membrane translocation of RhoA and ROCK I in hearts isolated from diazoxidetreated animals, effects that were abrogated using insulin. Overall, our data suggest that comparable to hyperglycemia, LPA-induced increases in cardiac LPL occurred via posttranscriptional mechanisms and processes that likely required RhoA activation and actin polymerization. Whether this increase in LPL augments triglyceride deposition in the heart leading to eventual impairment in contractile function is currently unknown.RhoA; Rho kinase I; actin HEART DISEASE is a leading cause of mortality in diabetic patients, with coronary vessel disease being the primary reason for the increased incidence of cardiovascular dysfunction (27,52). More recent evidence suggests that heart failure during diabetes can also occur secondary to altered cardiac energy metabolism where impaired glucose transport and utilization switches ATP production exclusively to oxidation of fatty acids (FA) (48). This adaptive mechanism could eventually become counterproductive leading to "lipotoxicity" where FA accumulate and can, either by themselves or via production of second messengers such as ceramides, provoke cell death (28).Heart tissue acquires energy from metabolism of two major substrates, glucose and FA, the latter being the preferred substrate consumed (44,48). FA delivery to the heart involves 1) release from adipose tissue and transport to the heart after complexing with albumin (26), 2) provision through the breakdown of endogenous cardiac triglyceride (TG) stores (37), 3) internalization of whole lipoproteins (55), and 4) hydrolysis of circulating TG-rich lipoproteins to FA by coronary lumen lipoprotein lipase (LPL) (8). The molar concentration of FA bound to albumin is ϳ10-fold less than that of FA in lipoprotein-TG (30), and, recently, LPL-mediated hydrolysis of lipoproteins was suggested t...