The intracellular distribution of cellular and heat shock induced proteins (hsp) was studied during a heat shock to Drosophila Kc cells. The different hsp's are unequally distributed between the intracellular organelles; while hsp 84 shows an exclusive cytoplasmic location, hsp 70 is equally distributed between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. The low molecular weight (MW) hsp's 22--26 are mainly concentrated in the nuclear fraction. Hsp 34 also shows a preferential nuclear localization but differs from the 22-26 hsp group with regard to its solubility in salt. During the heat shock (HS) treatment, a major preexisting microsomal polypeptide of relative mass (Mr) 45 000 with some properties similar to cytoskeletal proteins is translocated to the nuclear pellet. This translocation does not occur during arsenite treatment which also induces the synthesis of some hsp's. Furthermore, the hsp's synthesized in response to this arsenite treatment do not become associated with the nucleus as during the HS. Consequently the nuclear translocation of the 45 000 Mr protein does not seem to be involved in the induction of the high MW group of hsp's. Furthermore, it suggests that the hsp's which are found in the nuclear pellet upon HS do not have a nuclear localization per se. It rather reflects a temperature-dependent translocation of certain cellular proteins and hsp to the nucleus during a HS.