Prior studies have suggested that intracellular phosphorylation events and cellular redox mechanisms may interact in regulating a variety of cellular functions, including the transcriptional activation of gene expression. Increased activity of transcriptional factors NF kappa B and AP1 has been described in cells exposed to oxidative stress and following the direct stimulation of protein kinase C (PKC) by phorbol diesters. However, the mechanisms that may contribute to redox regulation of PKC are unknown. We studied the expression of PKC activity and several second messengers in human Jurkat T cells exposed to oxidative stress in the form of H2O2. Micromolar concentrations of H2O2 rapidly induced increased cytosolic PKC enzymatic activity in Jurkat T cells that was associated with a marked arrest of cellular proliferation. The increase in cytosolic PKC activity in cells treated with H2O2 was accompanied by elevations in intracellular free calcium ([Ca2+]i), generation of inositol phosphates, and release of arachidonic acid. Functional studies showed that H2O2 enhancement of cytosolic PKC activity required phospholipase C activity but was not primarily mediated by arachidonic acid. The response of PKC to oxidative stress displayed a lack of Ca2+ dependence and was uncoupled from the activity of protein tyrosine kinases (PTK). Furthermore, the reduced activation requirements of PKC from cells treated with H2O2 were associated with shifts in elution profiles of PKC enzymatic activity after Mono-Q chromatography. These shifts appeared to represent intrinsic changes in the conformation of PKC induced by oxidative stress because western blotting failed to reveal any PKC cleavage products or reductions in native PKC alpha or beta. These findings indicate that oxidative regulation of intracellular events can intersect phosphorylation events mediated by PKC through the release of second messengers as well as direct changes in PKC activation requirements. Moreover, redox regulation of PKC is distinct from T cell receptor signaling in that the activity of PKC is uncoupled from the regulatory influences of PTK.