Protease-activated receptor (PAR)-2 is a G protein-coupled receptor that is activated by trypsin. The purpose of this study was to examine PAR-2 expression and the role of trypsin in cell proliferation in human pancreatic cancer cells. All four pancreatic cancer cell lines studied, from well to undifferentiated types, AsPC-1, BxPC-3, Panc-1, and MIAPaCa-2, had significant levels of PAR-2 mRNA detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, and showed a band of about 55 kDa corresponding to the known molecular weight of PAR-2: AsPC-1, BxPC-3 and Panc-1 showed a strong band, and MIAPaCa-2 showed a weak one. Immunocytochemically, AsPC-1, BxPC-3, and Panc-1 showed intense immunostaining for PAR-2, predominantly in the plasma membrane, while in MIAPaCa-2, immunostaining was weak. Proliferative activity of AsPC-1 cells was increased by concentrations of trypsin as low as 10 nM, and activity peaked at a concentration of 100 nM, representing almost 60% of that induced by 10% fetal bovine serum. In contrast, trypsin had no significant effect on proliferation of MIAPaCa-2 cells. These findings suggest that trypsin plays a role in the growth of PAR-2-positive pancreatic cancer cells and serves as a potent mitogen in vitro, functioning as a growth factor.