Compaction, occurring at the eight-cell stage of mouse development, is the process of cell flattening and polarisation by which cellular asymmetry is first established. Changes in the pattern of protein phosphorylation have been correlated with this early event of development (TL Bloom, J McConnell: Mol Reprod Dev 26:199-210, 1990). In the study reported here, groups of embryos were treated in ways known to affect particular features of compaction and were then labeled with [32P]orthophosphate; the phosphoproteins obtained were examined following electrophoresis in one and two dimensions. Four-cell embryos were treated with protein synthesis inhibitors, which advance cell flattening. This treatment resulted in only minor differences from the phosphoprotein profile of untreated four-cell embryos. Inhibition of protein synthesis at the eight-cell stage has little effect on cell flattening or polarisation. However, some phosphoproteins that are observed normally in eight-cell but not in four-cell embryos were no longer detectable if labeling took place in the presence of protein synthesis inhibitors. Eight-cell embryos incubated in phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, which disrupts various features of compaction, showed a relative increase in the phosphorylation of a group of phosphoprotein spots associated with the eight-cell but not with the four-cell stage. Embryos incubated in Ca2(+)-free medium, which prevents intercellular flattening and delays polarisation, showed a relative decrease in the phosphorylation of the same group of phosphoprotein spots. The behaviour of these phosphoproteins may therefore be correlated with some of the features of compaction.