The human B lymphocyte-associated CD37 antigen (gp40-52) has been characterized by the monoclonal antibody HD28. The CD37 antigen is strongly expressed on surface immunoglobulin positive B lymphocytes and weakly on a subpopulation of T lymphocytes and myeloid cells. The total molecular mass of the antigen ranges from approximately 40 to 52 kDa in B cell-derived leukemias and malignant lymphomas as well as in normal and anti-mu/B cell growth factor-activated tonsillar B cells. The polydisperse nature of the electrophoretic pattern of the CD37 antigen was found to be due to a microheterogeneity in its carbohydrate moiety. Biochemical analysis showed that the CD37 antigen derived from B cell-lines BJAB and LICR-LON-HMy2 consists of a single chain protein core of approximately 25 kDa to which two N-linked, complex carbohydrate antennae of various length are bound. The glycosylation of the molecule comprises about 50% of the total molecular mass. The molecule does not contain O-linked carbohydrate chains. In contrast, the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cell line, OCI.LY1, which is growth-dependent on human serum, carries a CD37 antigen with an additional carbohydrate chain resulting in a total molecular mass of approximately 40 to 64 kDa. At the electron microscopy level, this cell surface-expressed antigen was found to be associated with intracellular vesicles. The subcellular distribution of the CD37 antigen may reflect a function of this antigen both at the cell surface and in the cytoplasm. We found that, both due to its peculiar biochemical structure and its ultrastructural distribution, the CD37 antigen closely resembles the 46-kDa species of the mannose 6-phosphate receptor. The implications of this possible congruence for the function of the CD37 antigen are discussed.