We report the nucleotide sequence and derived amino-acid sequence of a cDNA clone encoding the 3' end of human intestinal dipeptidylpeptidase IV (DPP-IV). This cDNA probe identifies a 4 kb mRNA in the human colon cancer cell line Caco-2. We demonstrate here an extensive homology between this human DPP-IV cDNA and the recently published rat liver DPP-IV cDNA. Using the human DPP-IV cDNA to probe genomic DNA from a panel of somatic cell hybrids we have assigned the gene encoding human DPP-IV to chromosome 2.