1 The role of protein kinase C (PKC) in the mechanism underlying rapid agonist-induced desensitization of angiotensin AT 1 receptors remains unresolved. A major problem has been to isolate these receptors in a su ciently puri®ed form to allow study of their phosphorylation state. 2 A cleavable (His) 6 a nity tag was introduced into the N-terminus of the recombinant AT 1A receptor and stably expressed in human embryonic kidney cells. This a nity tag allowed rapid isolation, puri®cation and determination of the phosphorylation state of the AT 1A receptor. Using these cells, we determined the role of PKC in both agonist-induced receptor phosphorylation and desensitization under identical conditions. 3 Agonist-induced phosphorylation of the AT 1A receptor was observed at both low and high concentrations of angiotensin II (AII). Preincubation of cells with Ro-31-8220 (a PKC speci®c inhibitor) revealed that at low concentrations of AII (1 nM), PKC appeared to be the main kinase involved in receptor phosphorylation. In contrast, at high concentrations of AII (100 nM), although PKC-mediated phosphorylation of the receptor was observed, this was overshadowed by a second kinase. 4 In preliminary desensitization studies we observed that at a low concentration of AII, preincubation with Ro-31-8220 attenuated desensitization, whilst at high concentrations of AII (100 nM) it had little or no e ect on the level of desensitization observed.5 These data directly demonstrate an association between PKC-induced receptor phosphorylation and desensitization at low concentrations of AII. Since circulating concentrations of AII are in the picomolar range, we propose that PKC is the physiologically relevant mediator of AT 1 receptor desensitization.