A human osteosarcoma-derived cell line, 2T, grows almost as well in medium supplemented with platelet-poor plasma (PPP) as it does in medium containing fetal bovine serum. Human diploid fibroblasts, in contrast, will not grow in medium containing PPP unless human platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) is added. PPP treated with carboxymethyl-Sephadex at pH 7.4 was able to support 2T cell proliferation, although at a reduced rate compared to untreated PPP. Addition of PDGF to carboxymethyl-Sephadex-treated PPP did not restore the growth rate. However, insulin-like growth factor isolated from human plasma did partially restore the activity of carboxy-methyl-Sephadex-treated PPP. Medium conditioned by 2T cells was mitogenic for quiescent BALB/c3T3 cells and human diploid fibroblasts. Antiserum to human PDGF blocked the mitogenic activity of the conditioned medium. Partial characterization confirmed the biochemical similarity to PDGF. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that these osteosarcoma-derived cells have growth factor requirements similar to those of normal mesenchymal cells but are able to overcome the normal growth limitations by autocrine secretion of PDGF-like mitogens.