The lysophospholipid (LPL) mediators lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and sphingosine 1‐phosphate (S1P) are generated by enzymatic cleavage of stores of glycerophospholipids and sphingomyelin, respectively, in membranes of stimulated cells. LPLs are albumin bound, distributed widely in mammalian tissues, and increased in concentration by physiological activation of platelets and some other cells, tissue injury, inflammation, and neoplasia. The principal effects of LPA and S1P are growth related, including induction of cellular proliferation, alterations in differentiation and survival, and suppression of apoptosis. LPA and S1P also evoke cellular effector functions, which are dependent on cytoskeletal responses such as contraction, secretion, adhesion, and chemotaxis. The extracellular mediator activities of LPLs are transduced by subfamilies of G‐protein‐coupled receptors (GPCRs), of which the most completely characterized are those encoded by the endothelial differentiation genes (edgs). One homology cluster composed of Edg‐1, ‐3, and ‐5 recognizes and responds to S1P, and the other cluster of Edg‐2 and ‐4 is dedicated to LPA. Edg proteins are developmentally regulated and differ in tissue distribution, but couple similarly to multiple types of G‐proteins to signal through ras and mitogen‐activated protein kinase, rho, phospholipase C, and several protein tyrosine kinases. Numerous interactions between glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids are observed in their biosynthetic and signaling pathways. Many of the cellular effects of LPA and S1P are attributable to modifications in the content and/or activity of a major functional protein. Examples are increases in nuclear levels of transcription factors that regulate the serum response element, suppression of death caspase activities in apoptosis, and elevation of membrane content of heparin binding–epidermal growth factor‐like growth factor, which serves as an autocrine and juxtacrine stimulus of proliferation. These ubiquitous LPL mediators of cellular growth, differentiation, and activities thus act directly through complex subfamilies of GPCRs and by regulating expression of biologically critical proteins.—Goetzl, E. J., An, S. Diversity of cellular receptors and functions for the lysophospholipid growth factors lysophosphatidic acid and sphingosine 1‐phosphate. FASEB J. 12, 1589–1598 (1998)