Type 2C phosphatase is one of the four major protein serine.threonine phosphatases (types 1, 2A, 2B and 2C). The mRNA level of the enzyme protein was 11.5 times higher in mouse skeletal muscle than in undifferentiated mesenchymal cells (C3H10T1/2). The mRNA level was enhanced 4.2-fold in accordance with the differentiation of C3H10T1/2 cells into myoblasts induced by transfection with a MyoD1 expression vector, and this high level was maintained in terminally differentiated myotubes. Furthermore, type 2C phosphatase activity in both myoblast and myotube fractions was slightly higher than in control C3H10T1/2 cells. These results indicate that the expression of type 2C phosphatase gene is enhanced during the course of myogenic differentiation.