The polypeptide hormones that govern the proliferation and differentiation of the mature immune system and hematopoiesis are collectively referred to as lymphokines. We have examined a number of biochemical and molecular events stimulated by several unique lymphokines that exhibit proliferative activity on lymphoid and myeloid cell lines. IL-2 and several members of the colony-stimulating factors (multi-CSF, G-CSF, and GM-CSF) stimulate a similar pattern of cellular phosphorylation, including the prominent phosphorylation of a 68-kD substrate present in numerous distinct lineage cell lines. The 68-kD substrate is phosphorylated by protein kinase C on threonine residues and is primarily cytosolic. Another kinase system activated by either physiological ligand or synthetic diacylglycerol phosphorylated the 40S ribosomal S6 protein in a dose-dependent manner. The increased phosphorylation of S6 protein was associated with enhanced chain elongation in vitro. The kinase responsible for the in situ phosphorylation, however, was not protein kinase C but another physicochemically distinct Mg++-dependent enzyme (termed S6 kinase). These studies suggested that although protein kinase C was activated by diacylglycerol, another kinase, S6 kinase, was the effector enzyme involved in the phosphorylation of the 40S protein. IL-2 and all other lymphokines tested stimulated the transcription of the nuclear protooncogenes c-fos, c-myc, and c-myb, as well as a member of the heat shock family of proteins, HSP 70. Phorbol esters also stimulated similar gene expression; however, cAMP analogue inhibited phorbol ester- or ligand-induced c-myc expression. cAMP agonists are antiproliferative to all the growth factors tested.