We have characterized the TAP molecule, an Ly-6 linked T-cell-activating glycoprotein. The three TAP bands that are precipitated from metabolically labeled cells display a common migration pattern in isoelectric focusing/NaDodSO4/PAGE gels and have common N-terminal sequences. This sequence is rich in cysteine and is homologous to that previously reported for the Ly-6.1E antigen. We, therefore, compared TAP and Ly-6.1E biochemically and found them to be structurally distinct. Given the role of TAP in T-cell activation, we further studied whether the molecule was phosphorylated. We have not found evidence for phosphorylation of the TAP protein. The carbohydrates present on the TAP molecule are resistant to peptide N-glycosidase F in vitro and tunicamycin in vivo. The upper band of the TAP triplet is susceptible to treatment with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid and thus seems to be of the O-linked rather than of the N-linked variety. The biosynthetic processing of TAP was studied in pulse-chase experiments. The middle band of the TAP triplet appears to be the earliest detectable species. Its conversion to the O-linked high molecular weight species can be blocked by monensin.