Pregnancy zone protein (PZP) is quantitatively the most important pregnancy-associated plasma protein and it has strong similarity to alpha 2-macroglobulin. Since alpha 2-macroglobulin is a binding protein for transforming growth factors-beta (TGF-beta), it was of interest to test whether the related protein, PZP, also binds to these growth-regulatory proteins. Using affinity-labelling methods, we demonstrate that PZP binds both TGF-beta 1 and TGF-beta 2 and that the binding characteristics are similar to those of the TGF-beta-alpha 2-macroglobulin interaction. TGF-beta 2 and TGF-beta 1 bind to PZP in a predominantly noncovalent manner in vitro. TGF-beta 1 and TGF-beta 2 bind to both the dimeric and tetrameric forms of PZP. Our studies also indicate that PZP binds TGF-beta 2 with higher affinity than TGF-beta 1. Finally, we demonstrate that PZP inhibits the binding of TGF-beta 1 and TGF-beta 2 to their cell surface receptors. The increased level of PZP during pregnancy may affect the action of TGF-beta by regulating the distribution, clearance and/or general availability of TGF-beta. The preferential binding of TGF-beta 2 over TGF-beta 1 by PZP implies that PZP may differentially regulate the action of TGF-beta 1 and TGF-beta 2.