Binding of an opacity-associated protein II (PIIop) from Neisseria gonorrhoeae to eucaryotic macromolecules was studied. HeLa cell extracts were subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and transferred to nitrocellulose, and purified PIIop bound to approximately 50 distinct molecular species. The binding of PIIop to HeLa cell components was stable in high salt and nonionic detergent and was not inhibited by a variety of monosaccharides and polyionic substances. PIIop binding behavior was compared with that of two model carbohydrate-binding proteins, wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) and concanavalin A (ConA). Model glycoproteins (ovomucoid, fetuin, mucin, ovalbumin) inhibited binding by PIIop, WGA, and ConA to various degrees. HeLa cell glycopeptides, generated by pronase digestion of chloroform-methanol-extracted cells, were tested for their ability to inhibit binding by PIIop to Western blots of HeLa cell macromolecules. HeLa cell extracts inhibited PIIop binding before pronase treatment, but inhibitory activity was lost as a result of pronase digestion. Direct binding to defined glycosylated and nonglycosylated proteins revealed that ConA and WGA bound only glycoproteins, whereas PIIop bound to proteins lacking carbohydrate as well. PIIop binding to human and bovine serum albumins was of high affinity and required partial unfolding of albumin; native albumin was not bound by PIIop; however, both the denatured, reduced form of albumin and the compact, nonreduced form of carboxymethylated albumin were bound strongly by PIIop. Albumin-PIIop interaction did not involve covalent bond formation through sulfhydryl groups. The predominant binding interactions of PIIop found in this study were with protein rather than carbohydrate, and the chemical nature of the interactions is more complex than involvement of purely ionic or hydrophobic forces.