The nucleotide sequence of a 4.8-kilobase mRNA for hamster 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase, the endoplasmic reticulum enzyme that controls cholesterol biosynthesis, shows that it is a protein of 887 amino acids (molecular weight 97,092) which contains three potential sites for asparagine-linked glycosylation. The reductase is a transmembrane glycoprotein, but in contrast to many other transmembrane glycoproteins, it lacks a cleavable or hydrophobic NH2-terminal signal sequence.