Diacylglycerol kinases (DGKs) attenuate diacylglycerol-induced protein kinase C activation during stimulated phosphatidylinositol turnover. This reaction also initiates phosphatidylinositol resynthesis. Two agents, 3-{2-(4-[bis-(4-fluorophenyl)methylene]-1-piperidinyl)ethyl}-2,3-dihydro-2-t hioxo-4(1H)quinazolinone (R59949) and 6-{2-{4-[(4-fluorophenyl)phenylmethylene]-1-piperidinyl}ethyl}-7-methyl-5H-t hiazolo(3,2-a)pyrimidin-5-one (R59022), inhibit diacylglycerol phosphorylation in several systems. To examine the mechanism of this effect, we developed a mixed micelle method suitable for in vitro study of DGK inhibition. Animal cells express multiple DGK isoforms. In a survey of DGK isotypes, these agents selectively inhibited Ca 2 + -activated DGKs. R59949 was the more selective of the two. To map the site of interaction with the enzyme, a series of DGKα deletion mutants were prepared and examined. Deletion of the Ca 2 + -binding EF hand motif, which is shared by Ca 2 + -activated DGKs, had no effect on inhibition. Consistent with this observation, inhibition kinetics were noncompetitive with Ca 2 + . A construct expressing only the catalytic domain was also inhibited by R59949. Studies of substrate kinetics demonstrated that MgATP potentiated R59949 inhibition, indicating synergy of inhibitor and MgATP binding. These results indicate that R59949 inhibits DGKα by binding to its catalytic domain.