The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of nitrogen compounds such as protein on the chemical composition and toxicity of cigarette mainstream smoke. BSA protein was treated into the tobacco leaf of original 2R4F cigarette at 1~4 % level. The studies were performed which included a bacterial mutagenicity assay and a mammalian cell cytotoxicity assay for total particulate matter(TPM), and glutathione(GSH) consumption assay for gas/vapor phase(GVP) and determination of smoke chemical constitute. Cigarettes treated with protein were observed dose-dependent increase in yield of volatiles, semi-volatiles and aromatic amines compared with control cigarette. However, carbonyl compounds such as acrolein was lower than that of control cigarette when calculated on an equal TPM basis. The cytotoxicity of TPM obtained from the protein-added cigarettes was not different from that of control cigarette. However, the mutagenicity of the TPM from protein-treated cigarettes(1~4 %) was up to 10-27 % higher than that of control. On the other hand, toxicity of GVP from protein-treated cigarette(4 %) was significantly decreased compared with control cigarette. An overall assessment of our data suggests that nitrogen compounds such as protein should be important for the chemical composition and biological activity of cigarette mainstream smoke.