The present work delineates the basis for chemical modifications which can be introduced on the angiotensin II (AII) molecule to design probes suitable for indirect affinity techniques, especially for receptor purification. Using the solid-phase synthesis strategy, biotin or dinitrophenyl moieties have been added at the N-terminus of AII, with aminohexanoic acid as spacer arm. The resulting probes, (6-biotinylamido)hexanoyl-AII (Bio-Ahx-AII) and dinitrophenylaminohexanoyl-AII (Dnp-Ahx-AII), were prepared in their monoiodinated and highly labelled radioiodinated forms, with possible sulphoxidation of biotin. In addition to their ability to interact with streptavidin and anti-Dnp antibodies respectively, the two ligands displayed almost unchanged affinities for hepatic AII receptors as compared with AII. Bio-Ahx-AII and Dnp-Ahx-AII behaved as agonists on several AII-sensitive systems. The potential applications of these probes, receptor purification, cell labelling and sorting and histochemical receptor visualization, are discussed.
