Both high and low affinity receptors for nerve growth factor (NGF) have been described, but only the former appear to mediate NGF actions and uptake. To specifically characterize the molecular identity of the high affinity site and to compare it with the low affinity site, the water-soluble carbodiimide EDC was used to cross-link 125I-NGF to NGF receptors on: rat PC12 cells, PC12nnr5 cells (PC12 mutants that have only low affinity NGF binding), SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells (which have only high affinity binding sites), and cultured rat sympathetic ganglion cells. A variety of criteria were used to distinguish the two classes of affinity-labeled receptors: competition with unlabeled NGF, dissociation rate, and selective solubilization by 0.1% Triton X-100. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed that cross-linking generated only a single Mr approximately 103,000 125I-NGF affinity-labeled species which represents both the low and high affinity forms of the receptor. The 125I-NGF X receptor complexes formed with both affinity classes of the receptor were quantitatively immunoprecipitated by the monoclonal anti-NGF-receptor antibody 192-IgG and both showed identical shifts in mobility when subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under nonreducing conditions. These findings indicate that both high and low affinity NGF receptors possess apparently identical NGF-binding moieties. The differences between the kinetic and functional properties of the two receptor types may therefore result from their interactions with other membrane components or with cytoplasmic proteins.