The amino acid p-benzoyl-L-phenylalanine, @-Bz)Phe, has been incorporated into substance P (SP), Arg-Pro-Lys-Pro-Gln-Gln-Phe-Phe-Gly-Leu-Met-NH2, to localize the agonist-binding domains of the human neurokinin-1 (NK-1) receptor overexpressed in a transfected mammalian cell line. The NK-1 -specific agonist [Pro9]SP was modified at position 8 by @-Bz)Phe and acylated at the N-terminus by a biotinyl sulfone reporter via a 5-aminopentanoyl spacer. After photolysis, the biotinyl sulfone moiety allowed easy and efficient removal of biotinyiated fragments from the complex incubation mixture with streptavidin-coated beads. Direct elution from the beads with the matrix used for matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS), which was facilitated by saturation of streptavidin sites with biotin, and subsequent MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry analysis allowed identification of the NK-1 fragments obtained after photolysis and proteolytic digestion. Trypsin digestion and combined trypsinlstaphylococcus aureus V8 protease enzymatic cleavage established that the site of covalent attachment of the photolabelled SP resides in the second extracellular loop, Thr173 -Arg177. Cyanogen bromide cleavage shows that the probe is covalently attached to the methyl group of a methionine residue from human NK-1. These experiments identified Met174 as the modified residue.Keywords: tachykinin receptor; photolabelling ; substance P; Chinese hamster ovary cells ; mass spectrometry.Chimeric tachykinin NK-UNK-3 or NK-UNK-2 receptors and mutated neurokinin-1 (NK-1) receptors have been constructed to probe the binding domains of NK-1 agonists and antagonists [ 1 -151. Both extracellular domains (N-terminal residues and extracellular loops) and residues from the transmembrane segments [I, 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 151 have been identified as important determinants for the binding of substance P and specific NK-1 agonists. However, as is evident from the conflicting data, these results do not imply that these critical residues of the NK-1 receptor directly interact with the amino acids of substance P; these residues may only confer the proper folding to the binding site for the agonist in the protein [13, 151. Affinity labelling of the receptor using photoreactive ligands constitutes a complementary strategy to mutagenesis [16]. The use of photolabelled analogues of the ligand-incorporating reactive probes in various positions allows mapping of the agonistbinding site. Theoretically, this strategy seems more precise than mutagenesis for the determination of the amino acids that constitute the binding pocket in the protein. However, numerous photolabelling experiments should be performed to describe the foot-printing of the ligand bound to its receptor. It should be noted that (a) important residues of the ligand cannot usually be modified (loss of the binding potency); the residue that is easily replaced by a photoreactive probe may not contribute to the binding contacts with the protein; and (b) when a compromis...