A series of 22 neuroepithelioma and neuroblastoma cell lines were screened for expression of nerve growth factor receptor (NGFR) by flow cytometry, Western blotting, and Northern blotting. All 5 neuroepithelioma cell lines expressed cell surface NGFR, with 30-69% of cells NGFR positive, but the 17 neuroblastoma cell lines tested had a smaller percentage of cell surface NGFR-positive cells (0-21%) and 10 lines were completely lacking cell surface NGFR. SY5Y, a variant line with a neuronal phenotype derived from neuroblastoma line SKNSH, expressed much more NGFR than SHEP, a variant line with an epithelial-like phenotype also derived from SKNSH. By Western blotting, the Mr approximately 69,000 NGFR band was detected for all four neuroepithelioma cell lines tested but was visible for only 8 of 15 neuroblastoma cell lines tested. The band was most intense for neuroepithelioma cell lines SKNMC and TC32. For these two lines, a Mr approximately 56,000 and a Mr approximately 60,000 band were also detected. By Northern blotting, all three neuroepithelioma cell lines tested were positive for the 3.8 kilobase NGFR mRNA, but only 8 of 15 neuroblastoma cell lines were positive. Neuroepithelioma cell line TC32 and neuroblastoma cell line GICAN had the strongest expression of NGFR mRNA. These results demonstrate that NGFR is a biological marker for neuroepithelioma and that NGFR expression is heterogeneous for neuroblastoma cell lines. This series of neural cell lines differing in NGFR expression will be useful for future studies of regulation of NGFR expression and neuronal differentiation.