Using Chinese Hamster Ovary cells expressing human AT(1) receptors cells (CHO-hAT(1)), it was previously shown that insurmountable inhibition of the angiotensin II response by non-peptide antagonists is related to the duration of their receptor occupancy. In the present study it was shown that these antagonists displayed similar binding characteristics to endogenously expressed AT(1) receptors in human adrenal cortex cells (NCI-h295) and renal vascular smooth muscle cells (HVSMC). Competition binding studies with [(3)H]candesartan for NCI-h295 cells, with [(125)I]Sar(1)-Ile(8) angiotensin II for HVSMC and with both radioligands for CHO-hAT(1) cells displayed the same potency order for unlabelled antagonists: candesartan>EXP3174>irbesartan>losartan. The AT(2) receptor antagonist PD123319 displayed low potency in all instances. The apparent half-lives of the antagonist-AT(1) receptor complexes in NCI-h295 cells and HVSMC were comparable to those obtained under identical conditions with CHO-hAT(1) cells. Angiotensin II increased the inositol phosphate accumulation dose dependently with half-maximal response at 17.4+/-1.6nM for NCI-h295 cells and 4.5+/-0.8nM for HVSMC. Pre-incubation of the cells with losartan only produced concentration-dependent rightward shifts of the angiotensin II concentration-response curve. The maximal response was decreased by 85-92% with candesartan, 70-88% with EXP3174 and 60% with irbesartan. The similar binding and inhibitory properties of these antagonists among the investigated cell types validates the use of CHO-hAT(1) cells for investigating pharmacological properties of human AT(1) receptors.