Thrombospondin (TSP) is a 450-kDa glycoprotein that is comprised of three identical disulfide-bonded subunits (1152 amino acids) held together near the heparin-binding amino-terminal globular domains. TSP truncated at residue 277 (TSP-277) or 381 (TSP-381) consisted largely of disulfide-bonded trimers when expressed in COS cells or insect cells. In addition, TSP-381 formed heterotrimers with endogenous COS cell TSP. Cleavage of TSP and the truncated mutants in the proteolytically sensitive region between residues 220 and 237 yielded monomeric amino-terminal fragments. Cys-252 and Cys-256 are the only cysteines between residues 238 and 277 and therefore must bridge among subunits. TSP-381 in which Cys-252 and Cys-256 were changed to glycine was secreted efficiently by COS cells but with only a minor portion of the protein in the form of disulfide-bonded trimers. The sequence of TSP between residues 258 and 283 is predicted to form an amphiphatic alpha-helix. We suggest that assembly of TSP trimers involves formation of an alpha-helical coiled-coil structure which is stabilized by formation of disulfides.