Post-transcriptional mechanisms play an important role regulating pituitary levels of vasopressin V1b receptors (V1bR) during adaptation to stress. This study investigates the involvement of an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) in the 5'untranslated region (5'UTR) on V1bR translation. Transfection of bicistronic luciferase constructs into MCF-7 cells showed marked increases in translation of the second cistron after insertion of a 499 bp fragment of the V1bR 5'UTR in the intercistronic region, independently of cap-mediated translation, indicating the presence of IRES activity. IRES-mediated translation was potentiated by the PKC activators, PMA and bryostatin 1, and appears to involve phosphorylation of amino-terminus of eIF4G. In CHO cells transfected with pV1bR-green fluorescent protein (pV1bR-GFP), PMA increased V1bR-GFP protein levels when cap-mediated translation was inhibited by rapamycin. The effect of PMA was due to increased translation since it persisted under transcriptional blockade by actinomycin D and it was completely abolished by cycloheximide. In addition, PMA stimulated [³⁵S]methionine incorporation into V1bR-GFP but not -actin in the absence of mRNA changes. The data show that regulation of IRES activity in the 5'UTR of the V1bR mRNA probably through phosphorylation of eIF4G may serve as a mechanism for rapid changes in V1b receptor translation to meet physiological demands.