Primary cultures of pubertal and prepubertal rabbit articular cartilage cells were performed. Total homogenates or cell extracts were used to determine the specific binding of 17 beta-estradiol. A comparative study was undertaken with tissue minces homogenized without enzymatic treatment. Scatchard analysis of cell or tissue extracts revealed the presence of a high-affinity receptor with Kd values of 0.55 +/- 0.16 nM and 0.12 +/- 0.03 nM in prepubertal and pubertal rabbit chondrocytes respectively. A significant difference in the affinity of estrogen receptor for its ligand as a function of age was observed. In contrast there was no significant difference in the number of binding sites expressed as fmol per mg DNA between the two age groups. The ligand binding specificity was as expected for an estrogen receptor and the sedimentation coefficient was 3.2 S when analyzed by ultracentrifugation on sucrose density gradient in presence of 0.4 M KCl and 8.1 S in low salt conditions. The binding sites, labeled with [125I]estradiol, were specifically immunoprecipitated by a monoclonal antibody to the estrogen receptor (JS34/32).