Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) binds to cell surface tyrosine kinase receptor proteins and to heparan sulfate proteoglycans. The interaction of bFGF with heparan sulfate on the cell surface has been demonstrated to impact receptor binding and biological activity. bFGF receptor binding affinity is reduced on cells that do not express heparan sulfate. The addition of soluble heparin or heparan sulfate has been demonstrated to rescue the bFGF receptor binding affinity on heparan sulfate deficient cells yet has also been shown to inhibit binding under some conditions. While the chemical requirements of the heparin-bFGF-receptor interactions have been studied in detail, the possibility that heparin enhances bFGF binding in part by physically associating with the cell surface has not been fully evaluated. In the study presented here, we have investigated the possibility that heparin binding to the cell surface might play a role in modulating bFGF receptor binding and activity. Balb/c3T3 cells were treated with various concentrations of sodium chlorate, so as to express a range of endogenous heparan sulfate sites, and [(125)I]bFGF binding was assessed in the presence of a range of heparin concentrations. Low concentrations of heparin (0.1-30 nM) enhanced bFGF receptor binding to an extent that was inversely proportional to the amount of endogenous heparan sulfate sites present. At high concentrations (10 microM), heparin inhibited bFGF receptor binding in cells under all conditions. The ability of heparin to stimulate and inhibit bFGF-receptor binding correlated with altered bFGF-stimulated tyrosine kinase activity and cell proliferation. Under control and chlorate-treated conditions, [(125) I]heparin was observed to bind with a high affinity to a large number of binding sites on the cells (K(d) = 57 and 50 nM with 3.5 x 10(6) and 3.6 x 10(6) sites/cell for control and chlorate-treated cells, respectively). A mathematical model of this process revealed that the dual functions of heparin in bFGF binding were accurately represented by heparin cell binding-mediated stimulation and soluble heparin-mediated inhibition of bFGF receptor binding.