The growth of hepatoma cells can be inhibited by treatment with TGFb1 or with exogenous reducing agents. To gain information on the molecular mechanisms underlying growth arrest, we visualized and compared gene expression pro®les of proliferating versus non proliferating HepG2 cells by computer-assisted gene ®shing, an improved technique of RNA ®ngerprinting that allows the selective ampli®cation of coding regions within transcripts. While many transcripts are selectively regulated by either treatment, a set of bands appear to be coordinately regulated by 2ME and TGFb1, suggesting their possible involvement in the mechanisms of growth arrest. Display tags corresponding to 18 di erentially expressed genes were cloned and, in most cases, identi®ed as known genes or, more frequently, as their homospeci®c/cross-speci®c homologues. A novel member of the kinesin superfamily was identi®ed amongst the genes induced by both 2ME and TGFb1. This gene, KIF3C, is upregulated in several cell lines undergoing growth arrest. Taken together, our ®ndings show that computer-assisted gene ®shing is a powerful tool for the identi®cation and cloning of genes involved in the control of cell proliferation and indicate that extracellular reducing agents can regulate cell growth through modulation of gene expression.