It was reported previously that radiation-induced cytotoxicity in V79A03 (V79) cells was attenuated by pretreatment of cells with leukotriene C4 (LTC4), leading us to determine that V79 cells possessed specific binding sites, with characteristics of receptors, for LTC4 (see the preceding, companion communication). Additional studies were conducted to determine the subcellular distribution and the chemical nature of the LTC4 binding site in V79 cells. Trypsin treatment of cells before LTC4 binding assays resulted in a 74% reduction in high-affinity binding. In tests to examine the subcellular location of LTC4 binding, plasma membrane and nuclear fractions were obtained from V79 cells. In contrast to Scatchard analyses of LTC4 binding to intact cells which were curvilinear, Scatchard analyses of nuclear and plasma membrane fractions were linear, indicative of the presence in these cellular substituents of low and high-affinity binding, respectively. To examine the nature of the high-affinity LTC4 binding sites, intact V79 cells were photolyzed with [3H]-LTC4 rendered photoactive by preincubation with N-hydroxysuccinimidyl-4-azidobenzoate. The cell-bound radioactivity migrated during sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) with an apparent molecular weight of approximately 40 kdal. Five different commercial preparations of glutathione-S-transferase (GST), which has been implicated as a source of LTC4 "specific binding" in other cells, migrated in the same SDS-PAGE system with an apparent molecular weight of 20-24 kdal. Furthermore, preincubations of V79 cells with three antisera generated against GST had minimal effects upon subsequent LTC4 binding to intact cells. These data, taken together with the data from the preceding companion communication, suggest that the radioprotective effect of LTC4 upon V79 cells may be attributable to a receptor-mediated phenomenon which appears distinct from leukotriene binding to GST.