We have cloned the coding region of a human gene, whose predicted amino acid sequence shows 88% homology and higher correspondence in functional domains to the rat cGMP inhibited phosphodiesterase gene (PDE3A). In concordance with the expression data of the rat PDE3A gene, a 5.3-kb transcript of the human cGMP-inhibited phosphodiesterase gene is shown in Northern blot analysis to be highly expressed in adipose tissue. In addition, weaker expression is seen in pancreas, skeletal muscle, liver, placenta, and heart. cDNA clones from the homologue mouse gene were isolated and sequenced spanning a highly conserved region coding for a C-terminal located catalytic core region of this enzyme family. Using a genomic cosmid clone of human PDE3A for fluorescence in situ hybridization, the gene was mapped to chromosomal region 11p15 and regionally sublocalized by PCR on a human-hamster somatic hybrid-cell mapping panel to 11p15.1-p2. Based on comparative linkage data in mouse and rat this chromosomal location is suggested to contain genes involved in complex diseases like obesity and diabetes mellitus type II. Therefore, a possible involvement of the human PDE3A gene in these polygenic traits is discussed, taking into account the prominent role of the rat PDE3A gene product in the antilipolytic action of insulin in adipocytes.