A B S T R A C T The concentration of multiplication stimulating activity (MSA), an insulinlike growth factor (IGF), is high in fetal rat serum. We now report that MSA is exclusively associated wth an albumin-size binding protein in fetal rat serum; the growth hormone-dependent, gamma globulin-size binding protein, which predominates in the older animal, is absent from fetal rat serum. When 125I-MSA was incubated with fetal rat serum and then gel filtered on Sephadex G-200, specific radioactivity eluted in the void volume (peak I) and the albumin region (peak III); by contrast, specific radioactivity eluted mainly in the gamma globulin region (peak II)