Cell differentiation and proliferation are mutually exclusive processes in many cases. The transition of starving Dictyostelium cells from growth to differentiation phase has been shown to occur at a particular position (putative shift point; PS-point) in the cell cycle of D. discoideum Ax-2. The significance of phosphorylation states of proteins such as 101 kDa, 90 kDa, and 32 kDa phosphoproteins has been argued, particularly around the PS-point. In this study we examined effects of the protein kinase inhibitors and activators on the transition of Ax-2 cells from growth to differentiation. K252a, a potent inhibitor of protein kinases, inhibited growth possibly through the blockage of pinocytotic activity of cells, and promoted the progress of development after starvation when applied to Ax-2 cells at the growth phase. Such a K252a-effect was most pronouncedly exhibited on the cells located near the PS-point. Unexpectedly, however, the development of starved cells was found to be considerably delayed by staurosporine bearing a structural and functional resemblance to K252a when it was applied during the growth phase. Pulse-labelings of growing Ax-2 cells with inorganic 32P (32Pi) showed that K252a induces the disappearance of a 48 kDa phosphoprotein and the appearance of a 50 kDa phosphoprotein, specifically in the cells located around the PS-point. Phosphorylation of 32 kDa and 24 kDa proteins was also inhibited by K252a, but this inhibition was not necessarily specific to the K252a-treatment and occurred independently of the cell-cycle phases. The possible significance of these results is discussed in relation to a breakaway of cells from proliferation to differentiation at the PS-point.