Morphological and biochemical analysis of angiotensin II internalization in cultured rat aortic smooth muscle cells

The intracellular pathway and kinetics of angiotensin II (ANG II) internalization are not well understood. We developed a biologically active ANG II-colloidal gold complex to qualitatively examine, by transmission electron microscopy, the ultrastructural details of ANG II binding and internalization in cultured rat aortic vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). To quantitatively evaluate ANG II internalization, we analyzed intracellular accumulation of 125I-labeled ANG II. These studies show that ANG II is internalized by VSMC in a time- and temperature-dependent fashion with a half time of < 2 min at 37 degrees C. Initially, ANG II binds diffusely over the entire cell surface. After binding, the ANG II receptors aggregate in coated pits that transform into small intracellular vesicles. By 60 min after internalization, gold particles are evident within large lysosome-like vesicles deep within the cell. ANG II-gold binding and internalization were selective: control probe (no ANG II) did not internalize; losartan potassium effectively competed for ANG II-gold binding and internalization.