A monoclonal antibody to muscle cell actin isotypes was produced and characterized. Immunocytochemical analysis of methanol-Carnoy's-fixed, paraffin-embedded human tissue revealed that this antibody, termed HHF35, reacts with skeletal muscle cells, cardiac muscle cells, smooth muscle cells, pericytes, and myoepithelial cells, but is nonreactive with endothelial, epithelial, neural, or connective tissue cells. When assayed by indirect immunofluorescence, HHF35 reacts with microfilament bundles from various cultured mammalian smooth muscle cells, but does not react with cultured human dermal fibroblasts or various epithelial tumor cell lines. In one-dimensional gel electrophoresis immunoblot experiments this antibody detects a 42-kd polypeptide from tissue extracts of uterus, ileum, aorta, diaphragm, and heart and extract from smooth muscle cells. The antibody also reacts with a comigrating 42-kd band of highly purified rabbit skeletal muscle actin. HHF35 is nonreactive on immunoblots of extracts from all tested nonmuscle cell extracts. Immunoelectrophoresis followed by immunoblotting performed in the presence of urea and reducing agents reveals recognition of the alpha isoelectrophoretic variant of actin from skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle sources and of the gamma variant from smooth muscle sources. Because HHF35 reacts with virtually all muscle cells, it will be useful as a marker for muscle and muscle-derived cells.