Monocyte chemoattractant protein‐3 (MCP‐3) is one of the most broadly active chemokines, potentially inducing chemotaxis of all leucocytic cells. In the present study, we examined the regulation of MCP‐3 mRNA and protein production in endothelial cells by protein kinase C (PKC) activator, phorbol 12‐myristate 13‐acetate (PMA) and cAMP signalling. On stimulation of endothelial cells with 10 n m PMA, MCP‐3 mRNA increased to 300‐fold the basal level at 3 hr and rapidly declined to 0·2‐fold the basal level at 24 hr. PMA‐induced MCP‐3 mRNA and protein production of human endothelial cells were partially inhibited by pretreatment with the adenylate cyclase activator, forskolin, or membrane‐permeable cAMP derivative. The PMA‐induced MCP‐3 mRNA increase was almost abrogated when cells were pretreated with cycloheximide (CHX). Forskolin inhibited the transcription of PMA‐induced MCP‐3 gene expression. Following PMA stimulation for 3 hr, subsequent addition of actinomycin D suppressed the rapid decay of PMA‐induced MCP‐3 mRNA. These results suggest that PMA induces the transcriptional activation of the MCP‐3 gene through de novo protein synthesis and the rapid decay of PMA‐induced MCP‐3 mRNA through de novo synthesis of adenosine/uridine (AU)‐rich element binding proteins and cAMP signalling inhibits the PMA‐induced transcriptional activation of the MCP‐3 gene expression.