The acetyl low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor is expressed on macrophages and some endothelial cells and mediates macrophage-foam cell formation in culture. A 220-kDa acetyl LDL binding protein was partially purified from bovine liver membranes and was used to make a specific monoclonal antibody. The 220-kDa protein immunoprecipitated by this antibody retained binding activity, and the antibody was used to detect this protein in cells lining bovine liver sinusoids and on the surface of cultured bovine alveolar macrophages. In the human monocytic cell line THP-1, the expression of both acetyl LDL receptor activity and a 220-kDa acetyl LDL binding protein were dramatically induced in parallel after differentiation to a macrophage-like state induced by phorbol ester. The ligand specificity, tissue and cell-type specificity, and coinduction data indicated that this 220-kDa cell-surface binding protein is probably a receptor that mediates acetyl LDL endocytosis. The 220-kDa protein, which was purified 238,000-fold from bovine lung membranes to near homogeneity using monoclonal antibody affinity chromatography, is a trimer of 77-kDa subunits that contain asparagine-linked carbohydrate chains.