We have studied the effects of sodium butyrate (NaBu) on the expression of genes transduced by retroviral vectors and stably expressed in two salivary gland-derived cell lines, A5-DAP and A5-BAG, established earlier. These cell lines were obtained by infecting A5 cells with the retroviral vectors DAP and BAG, respectively, and by selecting neomycin-resistant transduced cells. A5-DAP cells express human placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP) and A5-BAG cells bacterial โค-galactosidase, both under the control of the viral long terminal repeat (LTR) enhancerpromoter. NaBu in the concentration of 2-8 mM inhibited the growth of A5-DAP cells, and induced the expression of heat-stable PLAP. These effects of NaBu were dose-dependent. Induction of PLAP in clones of A5-DAP cells that express different basal levels of the enzyme was not correlated with the relative inducibilty by NaBu. Exposure to 4 mM NaBu for 48 h increased the PLAP mRNA level by 31%. A5-DAP cells released, in a time-dependent manner, PLAP into the culture medium. Cells treated with NaBu released more PLAP than untreated cells in proportion to their elevated level of the enzyme. The parent A5 cells also express a low level of tissue non-specific type alkaline phosphatase, which was also induced by NaBu. NaBu inhibited the growth of A5-BAG cells also, and increased the โค-galactosidase level. These data indicate the genes transduced by retroviral vectors can be induced by NaBu, which most likely interacts with the viral LTR.