For the purpose of understanding the distribution of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) receptor on the tendon cell, the continuous cultured tendon cell line was studied by following experiments. With the methods of immunohistochemical study and flow cytometric study, the density of IGF-1 receptor of the primary, 6th and 13th generation of tendon cell was analyzed. The results showed that there was no difference of the receptor density among those generations. However, in the cell cycle, the numbers of IGF-1 receptor in G2M phase tendon cells were more than that in G1 phase cells (P lt; 0.01). These works provided sufficient evident which suggested there were stable density of IGF-1 receptor on the tendon cell though out the life span of tendon cell. This may build some foundation in growth control of tendon cell by growth factor in the research of tendon tissue engineering.