human PDE4A was improved by ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE Sephadex A-50 chromatography, and Sephadex G-100 chromatography. The activity of PDE4A was measured by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). RESULTS: Induced PDE4A activity expressed in crude yeast cell GL62 supernatant and pellet was (340±21) nmol•g-1•min-1 and (250±25) nmol•g-1•min-1 respectively. The specific activity of recombinant PDE4A in supernatant was improved 6.4 fold. Ciclamilast, piclamilast, and rolipram could inhibit PDE4A activity. The IC50 values (95% confidence limits) of ciclamilast, piclamilast, and rolipram were 1.27 (0.84-1.91), 66.4 (33.3-132.2), and 3.73 (2.51-5.53) μmol/L respectively. Zaprinast, aspirin, and indomethacin had no obvious inhibitory effect on PDE4A activity. CONCLUSION: The specific activity of PDE4A expressed in yeast cell GL62 can be improved by ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE Sephadex A-50 chromatography, and Sephadex G-100 chromatography. Ciclamilast, piclamilast, and rolipram can inhibit PDE4A activity while zaprinast, aspirin, and indomethacin have no obvious inhibitory effect on PDE4A activity. Human PDE4A expressed in GL62 might be useful in the research and screening of new selective PDE4 inhibitors.