Identification and characterization of an angiotensin II receptor on cultured bovine adrenal chromaffin cells

The presence of an angiotensin II receptor on cultured bovine adrenal chromaffin cells was demonstrated by radioligand binding. A single class of finding sites with a K/sub D/ of 0.7 nM was characterized. The use of radioligands also allows the localization of receptors by autoradiography. Autoradiography demonstrated that approximately 50% of the isolated cells bound angiotensin II. It was of interest to see if angiotensin II bound to a cell that possessed a certain phenotype. In order to evaluate this possibility a technique was developed that combined autoradiography and immunocytochemistry. Results indicated that angiotensin II binding sites were not localized preferentially to either norepinephrine or epinephrine cells. Binding of angiotensin II was associated with the release of intracellular catecholamine stores. Cells were pre-loaded with 3H-norepinephrine and secretion was monitored by following radioactivity released into the supernatant. Alternatively, release of endogenous catecholamines was determined by fluorometric assay