A crude extract prepared from rat erythrocytes was previously shown to contain an active component (hypertensive factor, HF) that stimulates the in vitro uptake of calcium by aortic rings and causes a sustained and severe elevation in systolic blood pressure in normotensive rats. The present report demonstrates that the in vitro effects of HF on calcium uptake are concentration dependent and reversible, and that these effects on calcium uptake provide a convenient bioassay for monitoring the purification of HF. HF was prepared from a diffusate obtained by dialyzing hemolyzed rat erythrocytes. The diffusate was applied successively to molecular sieve and anion exchange columns resulting in a 1500-fold increase in specific activity relative to the starting hemolysate. The compound stimulating calcium uptake was found to be heat stable and resistant to digestion with trypsin and chymotrypsin. In contrast, treatment with pronase E, a nonspecific protease, markedly increased the calcium transport stimulatory activity. The administration of the purified preparation to normotensive rats having a systolic blood pressure of 118 +/- 2 Torr (1 Torr = 133.322 Pa) resulted in a significant elevation of blood pressure (171 +/- 11 Torr) by day 5. The severity of this increase further suggests that there is a marked enhancement in potency relative to earlier fractions that were examined. Perhaps most importantly, these results indicate that, at this stage of purification, the pressor component and the calcium-stimulatory component of HF appear to co-purify.