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By analyzing two-dimensional electrophoretic patterns of mouse liver proteins with a computerized image analysis system, we have observed quantitative changes in the abundance of more than 70 proteins in mice treated with various agents. Aroclor 1254, a mixture of polychlorinated biphenyls known to induce a broad spectrum of microsomal activity, induces the largest group of changes (60 proteins altered at p less than 0.001 significance). Phenobarbital produces a small set of characteristic changes that forms part of the much larger Aroclor 1254 effect. Ibuprofen treatment produces a phenobarbital-like pattern of change, with the addition of at least one protein change not observed with any of the other treatments. Cycloheximide and carbon tetrachloride each induces a different characteristic pattern of protein alteration. We have assigned most of the mouse liver proteins to a specific subcellular fraction, and it appears that the predominant class of proteins altered by each compound is present in the soluble phase, rather than in the microsomal fraction. The ability to survey large numbers of tissue proteins for involvement in pharmacologic and toxic effects may allow a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms of action in vivo and provide new markers of tissue damage.