An insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) was purified from the cytosol of human erythrocytes via the use of ammonium sulfate precipitation and chromatography on columns composed of DEAE-Sephadex, pentylagarose, hydroxylapatite, chromatofocusing resins, and Ultrogel AcA-34. The final preparation was purified >50,000-fold and exhibited a single protein band of Mr = 110,000 on reduced sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Cross-linking of 125I-labeled insulin to the enzyme preparation labeled a protein of the same molecular weight, indicating that this band was in fact the enzyme. Intact insulin, insulin B chain, andglucagon inhibited this cross-linking half-maximally at concentrations of 0.1,1, and 1.5 μM, respectively. Under nondenaturing conditions, the enzyme had an Mr, = 300,000, suggesting that the enzyme may exist under physiological conditions as a dimer or trimer. The purified enzyme was inhibited by both sulfhydrylmodifying reagents and chelating agents, indicating that a free thiol and metal were both required for the activity of the enzyme. The purified enzyme was found to degrade physiological concentrations of intact insulin more rapidly than insulin B chain,although at high substrate concentrations (>1 μM) the enzyme degraded B chain to a greater extent. Additional characteristics of the enzyme were a pl of 5.2 and a pH optimum of 7.0. These properties of the red blood cell (RBC) enzyme were very similar to those reported for IDEs from other tissues. Moreover, a polyclonal antiserum to the IDE from skeletal muscle was found to recognize the RBC enzyme. These results indicate that the human erythrocyte enzyme is very similar tothe enzyme in other tissues and that these cells are a good source of material for purification of the human IDE.