Insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) is a major embryonic growth factor belonging to the insulin-like growth factor family which includes insulin and IGF-I. Its expression in humans is tightly controlled by maternal imprinting, a genetic restraint which is lost in many cancers, resulting in upregulation of both mature IGF-II mRNA and protein expression. Additionally, increased expression of several longer isoforms of IGF-II, termed pro- and big-IGF-II, has been observed. To date, it is ambiguous as to what role these IGF-II isoforms have in initiating and sustaining tumorigenesis and whether they are bioavailable. We have expressed each individual IGF-II isoform in their proper O-glycosylated format and established that all bind to the IGF-IR, IR-A and IR-B receptors, resulting in their activation and subsequent stimulation of fibroblast proliferation. We also confirmed that all isoforms are able to be sequestered into binary complex with several IGF binding proteins (IGFBP-2, IGFBP-3 and IGFBP-5). In contrast to this, ternary complex formation with IGFBP-3/IGFBP-5 and the auxillary protein, acid labile subunit (ALS) was severely diminished. Furthermore, big-IGF-II isoforms bound much more weakly to purified ectodomain of the natural IGF-II scavenging receptor, IGF-IIR. IGF-II isoforms thus possess unique biological properties which may enable them to escape normal sequestration avenues and remain bioavailable in vivo in order to sustain oncogenic signaling.