Localization of type-2 angiotensin II receptor in adrenal gland.

The localization of the type-2 angiotensin II receptor (AT2) in the adrenal glands of rats, guinea pigs, bovines, and humans was examined at the mRNA and protein levels. PCR products for AT2 were detected in the adrenal cortices and adrenal medullae of all the mammals examined with an RT-PCR technique. Three different anti-AT2 antibodies (Abs), whose specificity was confirmed in our hands, recognized a 50-kDa protein in the adrenal glands of the four mammals, and this recognition was abolished by the preabsorption of an Ab with an antigen. Immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry revealed that the 50-kDa protein was expressed consistently and variably in the adrenal cortices and medullae of various mammals, respectively. We conclude that the 50-kDa AT2 is consistently expressed in the adrenal cortex in a wide variety of mammals.