Recent studies in our laboratory have been aimed at biochemically characterizing the alpha 2M receptor present on fibroblast membranes. The approach we have taken is to develop a means of assessing binding to solubilized alpha 2M binding sites. The binding activity was not removed by treatment with high salt concentration or treatment with chaotropic agents. Removal of the binding activity from membranes did occur using a variety of detergents which suggests that the receptor molecules may be "intrinsic" membrane proteins. The most useful detergent for solubilizing the alpha 2M receptor was octyl-beta-D-glucoside. The alpha 2M binding activity could be removed from NRK fibroblasts and Vero cells using this detergent and was found to remain in solution at 100,000 X g. Removal of the octyl-beta-D-glucoside by extensive dialysis resulted in formation of protein-lipid aggregates that bind to 125I-alpha 2M specifically and with high affinity. Such binding sites were not generated when KB cells (which lack receptors) were extracted with the detergent. Significantly, the observed affinities detected for both high- and low-affinity binding sites were similar to those reported with intact cells or membranes. In addition, binding to the solubilized sites could be inhibited using compounds known to block the receptor-mediated endocytosis of alpha 2M (bacitracin, IBHNA). Other compounds (monensin, dansylcadaverine), which did not directly inhibit the high-affinity binding sites, may exert their effects at different stages in receptor-mediated endocytosis (i.e., receptor recycling). alpha 2M binding sites from NIH-3T3 (spontaneous) tumors have been purified approximately 95-fold by a combination of ion exchange and gel permeation chromatography. The receptor appears to be an acidic protein that approximately coelutes with aldolase (45 A, 158,000 daltons) on gel filtration. Ion exchange chromatography appears to remove an endogenous inhibitor of alpha 2M binding and may also remove binding sites having lower affinity for 125I-alpha 2M. Recent studies using immobilized alpha 2M as an affinity resin suggest that the high-affinity alpha 2M receptor may have a subunit molecular weight of approximately 85,000. Studies are now in progress aimed at further characterizing these high-affinity binding sites. Once bound to the alpha 2M receptor, alpha 2M enters cells via coated pits and is rapidly transferred to receptosomes. These organelles carry the ligand into the Golgi region, from which it is transferred to lysosomes where it is slowly degraded.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)