A comparative study of the localization of 125I-labeled atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) and 125I-labeled angiotensin II (ANG II) binding sites in the glomerulus of the rat, after an intravascular injection, has been done by ultrastructural radioautography. 125I-ANF binding sites are localized predominantly on the podocytes of the visceral epithelium (63%) followed by the endothelium of capillaries (14%), the parietal epithelium (13%), and finally mesangial cells (10%). In a comparative study, it was confirmed that 125I-ANG II uptake is localized predominantly on mesangial cells (60%) followed by epithelial visceral cells (23%) and the endothelium of capillaries (16%). Using isolated rat glomeruli, it was confirmed that ANG II decreases glomerular size (maximum effect of 15%) with an apparent half maximum effective concentration (EC50) between 10(-9) and 10(-8) M. Although ANF alone has no apparent effect on glomerular size, it inhibits the contractile effect of ANG II with a half maximum inhibitory concentration (IC50) between 10(-11) and 10(-10) M. These results suggest that an intraglomerular mechanism other than glomerular arteriolar resistance may be involved in the modulation of glomerular filtration rate by ANF. The presence of 125I-ANF uptake mainly in foot processes of visceral epithelial cells of glomeruli in vivo and the inhibition of ANG II decrease in glomerular size by ANF in vitro raise the possibility that ANF may regulate the ultrafiltration coefficient by two mechanisms: modulation of glomerular permeability, and surface area.

Rats were injected through the carotid artery (cephalad direction) with 18.9 µCi of either ¹²⁵I-Arg 101-Tyr 126 atrial natriuretic factor alone or together with an excess of unlabeled hormone. At 2 min after injection, all rats were fixed in vivo by perfusion and serial sections of the whole brain were processed for light microscope radioautography. The radioautographic reaction produced by ¹²⁵I-atrial natriuretic factor alone was localized in all circumventricular organs (except the subcommissural organ), the smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells of arteries, arterioles, veins, venules, the endothelial cells of intraparenchymal capillaries and the epithelial cells of the choroid plexus. In rats which received ¹²⁵I-atrial natriuretic factor plus an excess of unlabeled hormone, the radioautographic reaction was reduced by 70–90%. Binding sites are thus localized in regions of the brain, some of them involved in the central monitoring of blood pressure and osmolarity. In addition, the presence of binding sites in the cerebral vasculature and in the epithelium of the choroid plexus suggests that circulating ANF may play a role in the control of cerebral blood flow and in the production of vertebrospinal fluid.

The calcium dependence of the atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) secretory system is controversial. Some studies clearly support a stimulatory role, whereas others favor an inhibitory role for calcium in this endocrine system. We demonstrate that calcium is involved in both a positive modulatory role and a negative modulatory role, thereby providing some explanation for the seemingly irreconcilable findings previously published. The negative modulatory role performed by calcium is evident during basal secretion, whereas the positive modulatory role is especially evident in the sustained phase of the secretory response to stimulation. Furthermore, we demonstrate the calcium dependence of processing of the prohormone to the mature circulating form in a cell culture system. This supports the concept that processing is a function of the atrial myocyte rather than of the mesenchymal cells of the atrium. We have demonstrated previously that calcium is important for packaging of the prohormone into secretory granules. Together these findings support a multifaceted role for calcium in the regulation of the secretory apparatus for ANP.

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