Angiotensin IV displays only low affinity for native insulin-regulated aminopeptidase (IRAP).

Radioligand binding studies revealed that Ang IV binds to insulin-regulated aminopeptidase (IRAP)/'AT(4) receptors' with high affinity. Yet, as these experiments were routinely carried out in the presence of chelators, only the catalytic zinc-depleted apo-form of IRAP was labelled. While the chelators remove the catalytic zinc from IRAP and protect Ang IV from proteolytic degradation, the aminopeptidase N selective inhibitor '7B' only exerts the latter effect. By using 7B along with the new stable Ang IV-analog [(3) H]AL-11, we here show that the native enzyme is only a low-affinity target for Ang IV.