We have previously shown that lovastatin induces apoptosis in spontane-ously immortalized rat brain neuroblasts. Focal adhesion proteins and pro-tein kinase Cd(PKCd) have been implicated in the regulation of apoptosis. We found that lovastatin exposure induced focal adhesion kinase, Crk-asso-ciated substrate (p130 Cas ), PKCdcleavage and caspase-3 activation in a con-centration-dependent manner. Lovastatin effects were fully prevented by mevalonate.