A comparative study of the localization of 125I-labeled atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) and 125I-labeled angiotensin II (ANG II) binding sites in the glomerulus of the rat, after an intravascular injection, has been done by ultrastructural radioautography. 125I-ANF binding sites are localized predominantly on the podocytes of the visceral epithelium (63%) followed by the endothelium of capillaries (14%), the parietal epithelium (13%), and finally mesangial cells (10%). In a comparative study, it was confirmed that 125I-ANG II uptake is localized predominantly on mesangial cells (60%) followed by epithelial visceral cells (23%) and the endothelium of capillaries (16%). Using isolated rat glomeruli, it was confirmed that ANG II decreases glomerular size (maximum effect of 15%) with an apparent half maximum effective concentration (EC50) between 10(-9) and 10(-8) M. Although ANF alone has no apparent effect on glomerular size, it inhibits the contractile effect of ANG II with a half maximum inhibitory concentration (IC50) between 10(-11) and 10(-10) M. These results suggest that an intraglomerular mechanism other than glomerular arteriolar resistance may be involved in the modulation of glomerular filtration rate by ANF. The presence of 125I-ANF uptake mainly in foot processes of visceral epithelial cells of glomeruli in vivo and the inhibition of ANG II decrease in glomerular size by ANF in vitro raise the possibility that ANF may regulate the ultrafiltration coefficient by two mechanisms: modulation of glomerular permeability, and surface area.