Gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) labeled with 125I at tyrosine-15 (125I-GRP) binds to intact quiescent Swiss 3T3 cells in a specific and saturable manner. Scatchard analysis indicates the presence of a single class of high-affinity binding sites of Kd = 0.5 X 10(-9) M and a value for the number of sites per cell of about 100,000. 125I-GRP binding was not inhibited by other mitogens for these cells, and cell lines that are mitogenically unresponsive to GRP do not exhibit specific GRP binding. Structure-activity relationships show a close parallel between the ability of a range of GRP-related peptides to both inhibit GRP binding and to stimulate mitogenesis. Further, GRP binding is selectively blocked in a competitive fashion by a novel bombesin antagonist, [D-Arg1, D-Pro2, D-Trp7,9, Leu11] substance P. In addition, this compound selectively inhibits GRP and bombesin-induced mitogenesis. These results demonstrate that the mitogenic response of Swiss 3T3 cells to peptides of the bombesin family is mediated by a class of receptors distinct from those of other mitogens for these cells.