To test the hypothesis that the intestinal villous cell synthesizes a mitotic inhibitor that is specific for crypt cells, we have partially purified an extract from rat intestinal villous cells (VCE) and have demonstrated that it strongly and reversibly inhibits cell division and DNA synthesis in an intestinal epithelial cell line (IEC-6 cells). VCE produced a 60--70% inhibition of [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA and a similar magnitude of inhibition of labeling of nuclei in autoradiographic studies. This inhibition was not associated with cytotoxicity as assessed by the effect of VCE on 51Cr release, hexose or amino acid uptake, and protein synthesis. VCE appears specific for IEC-6 cells because it did not affect DNA synthesis in 10 other cell lines, and extracts derived from other cell lines and from colonic mucosa did not affect DNA synthesis in IEC-6 cells. VCE may represent a villous cell factor involved in the control of intestinal epithelial cell turnover in vivo.