Analysis by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of protein synthesized early after injection of human cells with adenovirus type 2 (Ad2) showed that polypeptides of 11,000 (11K), 12K, 14K, 15K, 19K, 21K, 24K, and 72k molecular weight were present in infected but not in mock-infected cells. These polypeptides corresponded in electrophoretic mobility to the following polypeptides synthesized in vitro by using mRNA complementary to specific regions of the Ad2 genome: 11K, 19K, 21K (91.5 to 96.8 map units), 14K (78.2 to 83.4 map units), 72K (62.4 to 67.9 map units), and 15K (4.9 to 11.0 map units). Polypeptides of 25K, 17K, 15.5K, and 13K were also synthesized in vitro, but have not yet been detected in infected cells. In addition, six adeno-specific polypeptides of 38 to 50K molecular weight could be discerned in infected cells if two-dimensional isoelectric focusing-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was used to compare extracts from infected and mock-infected cells. Partial protease digestion showed these 38 to 50K polypeptides to be related in sequence to each other and to the 40 to 50K polypeptide made in vitro (1.3 to 4.0 map units).