Strategies are needed for rapid protein isolation in order to identify disease-related proteins and facilitate the design of oligonucleotides for further molecular inquiry. In our laboratory, C3H10T1/2 murine fibroblasts have been found to express a variety of proteins in various subcellular fractions which are relevant to experimental transformation and carcinogenesis. Preparative two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE) procedures were developed to identify major cytoplasmic proteins by electroblotting and microsequencing. Isoelectric focusing tube gels were enlarged to 6 mm ID to accommodate larger protein loads at 0.5 to 2 mg protein. Separated proteins were electrotransferred from 6 mm thick slab gels onto 0.22 mu polyvinylidene difluoride membranes. Nearly 100 prominent blotted proteins were stained with Coomassie Brilliant Blue between pI 4.5-7.0 and 18-106 kDa and, of these, 27 prominent and well-resolved proteins were selected for sequencing. Sequences of 14 to 24 amino acid residues in length were obtained from 11 proteins which were identified from computerized databases. Some of these identified proteins had structural or enzymatic functions while others had only recently been discovered, including a newly reported Hsp 70 class member and a novel calcium-binding protein, reticulocalbin. The new heat shock protein has a molecular mass of 75 kDa and has been designated as Grp75, PBP74, CSA or p66mot-1 in mice and humans with purported roles in transformation and antigen processing. Reticulocalbin is an endoplasmic reticular protein which contains six domains of the EF-hand motif associated with high-affinity calcium-binding proteins. It may be involved in protein transport and luminal protein processing. In addition, sequences of 5 to 11 residues in length were also obtained from six other unidentified proteins. Thus, we have found that preparative 2-D PAGE serves as a powerful one-step purification method for protein isolation and characterization from an important in vitro murine model for the study of carcinogenesis.