We have examined expression of the smg p25A (a ras p21-like GTP-binding protein) gene in neural crest-derived tumor cell lines and neuroblastoma tissues. The human neuroblastoma cell lines GOTO, IMR-32, NB-1, and SK-N-SH expressed the 1.6-kilobase smg-25A mRNA. SH-SY5Y and SH-IN, variant cell lines with a neuronal phenotype derived from SK-N-SH, expressed much more smg-25A mRNA than did SH-EP1, a variant line with an epithelium-like phenotype also derived from SK-N-SH. The primitive neuroectodermal tumor cell lines SK-N-MC and KU-SN and the Ewing's sarcoma cell lines RD-ES and SK-ES expressed the smg-25A mRNA to a much smaller extent than did neuroblastoma cell lines. Of 15 human neuroblastoma specimens tested, 13 expressed the smg-25A mRNA to various extents. When the relative ratio of the smg-25A mRNA level to the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase mRNA level was compared among neuroblastoma tumor tissues, the value was significantly higher in tumors histologically diagnosed as ganglioneuroblastoma. The smg-25A mRNA was not detected in the tissues of Hodgkin's lymphoma, Wilms' tumor, Ewing's sarcoma, or undifferentiated sarcoma of the liver. These results suggest that the smg-25A mRNA level is closely related to the neuronal differentiation state of tumors derived from the neural crest.