In this paper, we investigated how epidermal growth factor (EGF) acts on growth and regulation of extracellular matrix components and their degenerative enzymes in uterine cervical adenocarcinoma cells in vitro. Effects of EGF on cell growth, DNA synthesis, and laminin, collagen IV, and tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) production of human uterine cervical adenocarcinoma cell line OMC-4 were examined, together with the characteristics of its EGF receptors. Scatchard plot of EGF binding to OMC-4 indicated two classes of binding sites with a dissociation constant of 170 pM and 510 pM. The total binding sites were 1.6 x 10(5)sites/cell. The number of OMC-4 cells did not increase in the presence of EGF, whereas 3H-thymidine incorporation was inhibited by EGF at concentrations of 1 and 10 nM. The production of laminin and collagen IV by OMC-4 cells was inhibited by EGF, whereas that of t-PA was significantly promoted at the physiological concentration of 0.1 nM. These results suggest that EGF is closely associated with regulation of proliferation and extracellular matrix degradation of uterine cervical adenocarcinoma cells.