Hepatocytes from male rats were incubated with [32P]Pi for 40 min at 37 degrees C, thereby equilibrating the cellular ATP pool with 32P. Subsequent exposure to bovine growth hormone for 10 additional min did not change the specific activity of cellular [gamma-32P]ATP. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis or chromatofocusing followed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was used to fractionate phosphoproteins solubilized from control or hormone-stimulated cells. Stimulation of hepatocytes with 5 nM growth hormone for 10 min at 37 degrees C affected the phosphorylation of a number of proteins including an Mr 46,000 species of pI 4.7 whose phosphorylation was augmented (2.65 +/- 0.50)-fold. A significant fraction of the maximal effect of growth hormone on phosphorylation of the Mr 46,000 species was elicited by 1-5% receptor occupancy. Bovine growth hormone, which binds to somatogenic receptors with great specificity, or recombinant human growth hormone, which is not contaminated with other hormones, affected phosphorylation of hepatic proteins similarly. The Mr 46,000 phosphoprotein was isolated in a fraction enriched in cytosol after centrifugation of cellular homogenates. Phosphorylation of the Mr 46,000 phosphoprotein was also increased (1.75 +/- 0.35)-fold and (2.15 +/- 0.50)-fold by insulin and glucagon, respectively. These observations are consistent with the possibility that selective changes in the phosphorylation state of cellular proteins may mediate growth hormone actions in cells.