The Cdc25 dual speci®city phosphatase family has a central role in controlling cell cycle progression and has been implicated in the etiology of cancer. One compound, 4-(benzyl-(2-[(2, 5-diphenyl-oxazole-4-carbonyl)-amino]-ethyl)-carbamoyl)-2-decanoylamino butyric acid (SC-aad9), was previously identi®ed as the most potent reported synthetic inhibitor of Cdc25 phosphatases in vitro. In the present study, we demonstrate that SC-aad9 inhibited Cdc25-dependent cell cycle progression at both G1 and G2/M phase using tsFT210 cells, which express a temperature-sensitive Cdc2 mutant. SCaad9 blocked both G2/M transition and dephosphorylation of Cdc2 in a concentration-dependent manner. SCaad9 also enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation of both Cdk2 and Cdk4, and decreased Cdk4 kinase activity. Both of the kinases are potent regulators of G1 transition. Furthermore, closely related chemical analogs that lacked Cdc25 inhibitory activity failed to block cell cycle progression at both G1 and G2/M, and did not a ect Cdc2 phosphorylation or Cdk4 kinase activity. SC-aad9 did not alter p53, p21 or p16 levels. Our results support the hypothesis that the disruption in cell cycle transition caused by SC-aad9 was due to intracellular Cdc25 inhibition. We propose that the SC-aad9 pharmacophore could be useful in further clarifying the role of Cdc25 phosphatase-dependent pathways in checkpoint control, oncogenesis, and apoptosis.