Vasopressin action in the renal collecting duct is believed to be mediated by the cycling of water channels in principal and, possibly, intercalated cells. We used 6-carboxyfluorescein (6-CF) or fluorescein-labeled dextran (FITC-dextran) to determine the location and water permeability of endocytic vesicles from papilla and inner stripe of Brattleboro rats in different states of diuresis. Fifteen minutes after FITC-dextran infusion, fluorescent vesicles were concentrated at the apical pole of principal and intercalated cells. The osmotic water permeability (Pf) of these endosomes was measured by fluorescence quenching. In papillary endosomes, Pf was high (0.04 +/- 0.004 cm/s) when rats were in physiological states of antidiuresis or after treatment with vasopressin, 1-desamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin (DDAVP), or oxytocin; endosomes isolated from these regions of untreated animals had a low Pf. The number of papillary endosomes with high Pf increased with increasing doses of DDAVP. Endosomes from the inner stripe also had a high Pf only after vasopressin treatment. Confocal microscopy of sections of papilla showed that vasopressin significantly increased endocytosis in principal cells but had no effect on intercalated cells. Our data demonstrate that the bulk of fluorescently labeled vesicles from the papilla originate from the apical membrane of principal cells and contain water channels in their limiting membrane only when the rats are in physiological states of antidiuresis. In contrast, the majority of endocytosis in intercalated cells is not involved in water channel recycling.