Mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis is associated with overactive PDGF receptor signal transduction. We show that the phytoalexin resveratrol dose dependently inhibits PDGF-induced DNA synthesis in mesangial cells with an IC₅₀ of 10 µM without inducing apoptosis. Remarkably, the increased SIRT1 deacetylase activity induced by resveratrol was not necessary for this inhibitory effect. Resveratrol significantly blocked PDGF-stimulated c-Src and Akt kinase activation, resulting in reduced cyclin D1 expression and attenuated pRb phosphorylation and cyclin-dependent kinase-2 (CDK2) activity. Furthermore, resveratrol inhibited PDGFR phosphorylation at the PI 3 kinase and Grb-2 binding sites tyrosine-751 and tyrosine-716, respectively. This deficiency in PDGFR phosphorylation resulted in significant inhibition of PI 3 kinase and Erk1/2 MAPK activity. Interestingly, resveratrol increased the activity of protein tyrosine phosphatase PTP1B, which dephosphorylates PDGF-stimulated phosphorylation at tyrosine-751 and tyrosine-716 on PDGFR with concomitant reduction in Akt and Erk1/2 kinase activity. PTP1B significantly inhibited PDGF-induced DNA synthesis without inducing apoptosis. These results for the first time provide evidence that the stilbene resveratrol targets PTP1B to inhibit PDGFR mitogenic signaling.—Venkatesan, B., Ghosh-Choudhury, N., Das, F., Mahimainathan, L., Kamat, A., Kasinath, B. S., Abboud, H. E., Choudhury, G. G. Resveratrol inhibits PDGF receptor mitogenic signaling in mesangial cells: role of PTP1B.