Neuronal cells in primary culture from 1-day-old brains of normotensive, Wistar-Kyoto strain (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive (SH) rats have been utilized to study the expression of alpha 1-adrenergic receptors. Binding of a selective alpha 1 antagonist, [125I]2-[beta-(4-hydroxy-3-iodophenyl)-ethylaminomethyl]-tetralone ([125I]HEAT) to neuronal membranes prepared from primary brain cultures of WKY and SH rats was 75-80% specific, rapid, and time-dependent although the binding was 1.5-2 times higher in neuronal membranes from SH rat brain cultures. Kinetic analysis of the association and dissociation data demonstrated no significant differences between rat strains. Competition-inhibition experiments provided IC50 values for various antagonists and agonists in the following order: prazosin less than phentolamine less than yohimbine less than phenylephrine less than norepinephrine less than propranolol, suggesting that [125I]HEAT bound selectively to alpha 1-adrenergic receptors. Scatchard analysis of the binding data provided straight lines for both strains of rats, indicating the presence of a homogeneous population of binding sites. It also showed that the increase in the binding in neuronal cells from SH rat brains over those from normotensive WKY controls was a result of an increase in the number of alpha 1-adrenergic receptors. Incubation of neuronal cultures from both strains of rats with phenylephrine, an alpha 1-adrenergic agonist, caused a time- and dose-dependent decrease in the binding of [125I]HEAT. This decrease was due to a decrease in the number of alpha 1-adrenergic receptors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)