Soluble forms of human betacellulin (BTC) were purified to homogeneity from the conditioned medium of mouse A9 cells transfected with the BTC precursor cDNA. Three types of soluble BTC, designated BTC-1a, BTC-1b and BTC-2, were resolved by cation-exchange and size-exclusion column chromatography. Physicochemical analysis has revealed that BTC-1a represents the glycosylated, intact molecule composed of 80 amino acid residues (Asp32 to Tyr111 of the precursor molecule). BTC-1b appears to be a truncated molecule lacking 12 amino acid residues from the amino terminus of BTC-1a. BTC-2 was found to be a 50-amino acid molecule (Arg62 to Tyr111) that corresponds to the epidermal growth factor (EGF) structural unit. The biological activities of these BTC molecules were essentially identical as judged by their mitogenicity on Balb/c 3T3 fibroblasts. BTC and EGF were equipotent in stimulating Balb/c 3T3 cell proliferation and rat mesangial cell Ca2+ mobilization as well as in inhibiting the growth of human epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells. BTC and EGF antagonized each other with similar dose dependence for binding to A431 cells, indicating that these factors bind the same receptor molecules with equivalent avidity. The Kd value of EGF receptor (EGFR) and BTC is 0.5 nM as determined on Balb/c 3T3 cells. In addition, human mammary carcinoma MDA-MB-453 cells, which express multiple members of the EGFR family, were found to possess 2.7 x 10(3) BTC binding sites/cell, and the binding was readily quenched by EGF. These results suggest that the primary receptor for BTC is EGFR.