We investigated the membrane trafficking of AQP3 induced by epinephrine in Caco-2 cells to clarify the digestive absorption of glycerol permeated by AQP3. Epinephrine was found to promote within 60 min the translocation of AQP3 from the cytoplasmic fraction to the plasma membrane. This increased trafficking of AQP3 was suppressed by phospholipase C and protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors and a phorbol ester accelerated the trafficking of AQP3 to the membrane fraction. In contrast, adenylyl cyclase (AC) and protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitors did not have any effect on the increased in trafficking of AQP3 by epinephrine and an AC activator did not affect the trafficking of AQP3. Phosphorylation of a threonine (514) residue in PKC was detected upon the treatment with epinephrine and the temporal transitional pattern of this phosphorylation paralleled that of the increased trafficking of AQP3. These results suggest that PKC modulates the trafficking of AQP3. (c) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.