Endothelial dysfunction plays a central role in diabetic vascular disease but its molecular bases are not completely defined. We showed previously that the actin-binding protein proflin-1 was increased in the diabetic endothelium and that attenuated expression of profilin-1 protected from atherosclerosis. Also, 7-ketocholesterol upregulated profilin-1 in endothelial cells via transcriptional mechanisms. The present study addressed the pathways responsible for profilin-1 gene expression in 7ketocholesterol-stimulated endothelial cells and in the diabetic aorta. In luciferase reporter assays, the response to 7-ketocholesterol within the 5'-flanking region of profilin-1 was dependent on a single STAT-response element. In aortic endothelial cells, 7-ketocholesterol enhanced STAT3 activation, which required JAK-2 and tyrosine 394 phosphorylation of oxysterol-binding protein-1. These changes were recapitulated in the aorta of diabetic rats. Also, 7-ketocholesterol in cultured endothelial cells and diabetes in the aorta elicited the recruitment of STAT3, and relevant coregulatory factors to the oxysterol-responsive region of the profilin-1 promoter. These events were required for profilin-1 upregulation. These studies identify a previously unrecognized oxysterol-binding protein-mediated mode of activation of STAT3, which controls the expression of the pro-atherogenic protein profilin-1 in response to 7-ketocholesterol and the diabetic milieu.