Modification of the composition of polycystin-1 multiprotein complexes by calcium and tyrosine phosphorylation.

Mutations in the PKD1 gene are responsible for >85% of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). The protein product of PKD1, polycystin-1, is a large, modular membrane protein, with putative ligand-binding motifs in the extracelluar N-terminal portion, 9-11 transmembrane domains and an intracellular C-terminal portion with phosphorylation sites. A role for polycystin-1 as a cell surface receptor involved in cell-matrix and cell-cell interactions has been proposed. In this study, we have analyzed polycystin-1 and associated protein distribution in normal human epithelial cells and examined the role of cell-matrix versus cell-cell interactions in regulation of the assembly of polycystin-1 multiprotein complexes. Immunocytochemistry, sucrose density gradient sedimentation, co-immunoprecipitation analyses and in vitro binding assays have shown that polycystin-1 associates with the focal adhesion proteins talin, vinculin, p130Cas, FAK, alpha-actinin, paxillin and pp60c-src in subconfluent normal human fetal collecting tubule (HFCT) epithelia when cell-matrix interactions predominate. Polycystin-1 also forms higher S value complexes with the cell-cell adherens junction proteins E-cadherin, beta- and gamma-catenins in confluent cultures when cell-cell interactions are predominant. Polycystin-1 multiprotein complexes can be disrupted by cytochalasin D but not by colchicine, suggesting involvement of the actin cytoskeleton. Although inhibition of tyrosine phosphorylation by tyrphostin inhibits polycystin-1-FAK interactions, E-cadherin interactions are enhanced. High calcium treatment also increases polycystin-1-E-cadherin interactions.

Retinoids and renal development.

Although it has long been appreciated that retinoids play an essential role in kidney organogenesis, it has only recently been recognized that even mild fetal vitamin A deficiency syndromes can result in a reduction in nephron number. Recent studies have also begun to define the cellular and molecular events associated with retinoid actions in the fetal kidney and have demonstrated the essential function of retinoids in branching growth of the ureteric bud. Importantly, characterization of the renal developmental effects of RAR alpha/beta 2 double homozygous mice combined with metanephric organ culture studies have together shown that one essential function of retinoid action in the developing kidney is the maintenance of c-ret expression in the tips of the ureteric bud. However, many other potential retinoid target genes including midkine, sonic hedgehog, Hox d-11, matrix metalloproteinases, and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases appear to play important roles in renal development and might be important downstream mediators of retinoid effects in the developing kidney. It can, therefore, be anticipated that important new insights into fetal kidney development will be forthcoming in the near future, as the essential target genes affected by retinoid signal transduction are progressively elucidated.

Monomeric midkine induces tumor cell proliferation in the absence of cell-surface proteoglycan binding.

Midkine (MK), a retinoic acid-inducible heparin-binding protein, is a mitogen which initiates a cascade of intracellular protein tyrosine phosphorylation mediated by the JAK/STAT pathway after binding to its high affinity p200(+)/MKR cell surface receptor in the G401 cell line [Ratovitski, E. A. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273, 3654-3660]. In this study, we determined the biophysical characteristics of purified recombinant murine MK and analyzed the requirements for ligand multimerization and cell surface proteoglycan binding for the G401 cell mitogenic activity of MK. Our studies indicate that the secreted form of MK (M = 13 kDa) exists in solution as an asymmetric monomer with a frictional coefficient of 1. 48 and a Stokes radius of 23.7 A. By constructing bead models of MK using the program AtoB and the program HYDRO to predict the hydrodynamic properties of each model, our data suggest that MK has a dumb-bell shape in solution composed of independent N- and C-terminal domains separated by an extended linker. This asymmetric MK monomer is a biologically active ligand with mitogenic activity on G401 cells in vitro. Neither heparin-induced formation of noncovalent MK multimers nor tissue transglutaminase II covalent multimerization of MK enhanced MK mitogenic activity in this system. Since neither heparin competition nor cell treatment with chondroitinase ABC or heparinase III abolished the mitogenic effects of MK on G401 cells, cell-surface proteoglycan binding by MK does not appear to be a requirement for its observed mitogenic effects. These results provide strong evidence that the MK-specific p200(+)/MKR has distinctive biochemical properties which distinguish it from the receptor tyrosine phosphatase cell-surface proteoglycan PTPzeta/RPTPbeta and support the hypothesis that the diverse biological effects of MK are mediated by multiple cell-specific signal transduction receptors.

Apical plasma membrane mispolarization of NaK-ATPase in polycystic kidney disease epithelia is associated with aberrant expression of the beta2 isoform.

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a common genetic disease of the kidney, characterized by cystic enlargement of renal tubules, aberrant epithelial proliferation, and ion and fluid secretion into the lumen. Previous studies have shown abnormalities in polarization of membrane proteins, including mislocalization of the NaK-ATPase to the apical plasma membranes of cystic epithelia. Apically located NaK-ATPase has previously been shown to be fully functional in vivo and in membrane-grown ADPKD epithelial cells in vitro, where basal-to-apical (22)Na transport was inhibited by application of ouabain to the apical membrane compartment. Studies were conducted with polymerase chain reaction-generated specific riboprobes and polyclonal peptide antibodies against human sequences of alpha1, alpha3, beta1, and beta2 subunits of NaK-ATPase. High levels of expression of alpha1 and beta1 messenger RNA were detected in ADPKD and age-matched normal adult kidneys in vivo, whereas beta2 messenger RNA was detected only in ADPKD kidneys. Western blot analysis and immunocytochemical studies showed that, in normal adult kidneys, peptide subunit-specific antibodies against alpha1 and beta1 localized to the basolateral membranes of normal renal tubules, predominantly thick ascending limbs of Henle's loop. In ADPKD kidneys, alpha1 and beta2 subunits were localized to the apical epithelial cell membranes, whereas beta1 was distributed throughout the cytoplasm and predominantly in the endoplasmic reticulum, but was not seen associated with cystic epithelial cell membranes or in cell membrane fractions. Polarizing, renal-derived epithelial Madin Darby canine kidney cells, stably expressing normal or N-terminally truncated chicken beta1 subunits, showed selective accumulation in the basolateral Madin Darby canine kidney cell surface, whereas c-myc epitope-tagged chicken beta2 or human beta2 subunits accumulated selectively in the apical cell surface. Similarly, human ADPKD epithelial cell lines, which endogenously expressed alpha1 and beta2 NaK-ATPase subunits, showed colocalization at the apical cell surface and coassociation by immunoprecipitation analysis. These results are consistent with a model in which the additional transcription and translation of the beta2 subunit of NaK-ATPase may result in the apical mislocalization of NaK-ATPase in ADPKD cystic epithelia.

Regulatory molecules in kidney development.

The molecular regulation of the complex inductive events associated with formation of the vertebrate excretory system has been progressively elucidated as a result of both genetic and tissue culture approaches. Kidney organogenesis is initiated and maintained by a series of reciprocal inductive interactions between different tissues derived from the intermediolateral mesoderm to form the nephrons and collecting system of the metanephric kidney. Recent progress in this area has resulted in the identification of regulatory systems controlling branching morphogenesis of the ureteric bud, formation of the early renal vesicle and the glomerulus. These events are controlled by genes that regulate pattern formation, cellular proliferation, and differentiation in other tissues. Although it is not yet possible to completely identify a complete genetic pathway required for any one of the many steps in nephrogenesis, it is now evident that pathways previously identified in studies of mesenchymal-epithelial inductive mechanisms in limb bud, neural tissues, lung, and gut have direct relevance to the study of these processes in kidney development. For instance, a primary system for pattern formation involving retinoic acid, homeobox genes, sonic hedgehog, fibroblast growth factor (FGF), and an FGF receptor all appear to function in limb, lung, and kidney organogenesis. A major challenge is determining how this common cast of signalling molecules plays a specific role in kidney development essential to nephrogenesis, which results in the unique structural organization of the adult kidney. From this more-sophisticated understanding will come important insights relevant to understanding the molecular basis of developmental malformations of the kidney necessary for the prevention and treatment of these disorders.

The PKD1 gene product, "polycystin-1," is a tyrosine-phosphorylated protein that colocalizes with alpha2beta1-integrin in focal clusters in adherent renal epithelia.

Mutations in the PKD1 gene are responsible for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Although PKD1 has been cloned and shown to be expressed at high levels in the fetal ureteric bud and ADPKD cystic epithelia in the human kidney, the function of its encoded protein, "polycystin-1" is unknown. In this study we used primary and immortalized human renal epithelial cell lines derived from normal fetal, adult, and ADPKD kidneys, that endogenously express PKD1, to study the biologic function of the polycystin-1 protein. ADPKD renal epithelial cells expressed high levels of polycystin-1 protein and showed increased adhesion to type I collagen by comparison with normal adult human renal epithelia that expressed little polycystin. Adherent ADPKD cells also expressed high levels of alpha2beta1-integrin and their attachment was inhibited by a functional monoclonal antibody to alpha2-integrin. Double labeling and confocal microscopy as well as coimmunoprecipitation analysis showed overlapping colocalization of polycystin-1 with alpha2beta1-integrin as well as with the focal adhesion proteins vinculin and paxillin in multiprotein clusters localized to focal areas of cell membrane contact with type I collagen matrix after short periods of attachment. Immunoprecipitation and Western immunoblot studies also showed that polycystin-1 was posttranslationally modified by tyrosine phosphorylation. These studies suggest that the PKD1-encoded protein is part of a large multiprotein complex in epithelial cells that functions in the regulation of extracellular matrix interactions with the plasma membrane and cell cytoskeleton.

Expression of the beta2-subunit and apical localization of Na+-K+-ATPase in metanephric kidney.

During kidney organogenesis, the Na+-K+-ATPase pump is not restricted to the basolateral plasma membrane of the renal epithelial cell but is instead either localized to the apical and lateral membrane sites of the early nephron or expressed in a nonpolarized distribution in the newly formed collecting ducts. The importance of Na+-K+-ATPase beta-subunit expression in the translocation of the Na+-K+-ATPase to the plasma membrane raises the question as to which beta-subunit isoform is expressed during kidney organogenesis. Immunocytochemical, Western analysis and RNase protection studies showed that both beta2-subunit protein and beta2 mRNA are expressed in the early gestation to midgestation human metanephric kidney. In contrast, although beta1 mRNA abundance is equivalent to that of the beta2-subunit in the metanephric kidney, the beta1-subunit protein was not detected in early to midgestation metanephric kidney samples. Immunocytochemical analysis revealed that both alpha1- and beta2-subunits were present in the apical epithelial plasma membranes of distal nephron segments of early stage nephrons, maturing loops of Henle, and collecting ducts during kidney development. We also detected a significant increase in alpha1 and beta1 mRNA after birth with a marked reduction in beta2 mRNA abundance associated with an increase in alpha1- and beta1-subunit proteins and loss of beta2 protein expression. These studies support the conclusion that the expression of the beta2-subunit in the fetal kidney may be an important mechanism controlling polarization of the Na+-K+-ATPase pump in the epithelia of the developing nephron during kidney organogenesis.

Identification of phosphorylation sites in the PKD1-encoded protein C-terminal domain.

The PKD1-encoded protein, "polycystin-1", has a large N-terminal extracellular portion, multiple transmembrane domains, and a short intracellular C-terminal tail with four tyrosine residues and two putative sites for serine phosphorylation. Its function in kidney development and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is still unknown. We have subcloned the cDNA encoding the polycystin-1 C-terminal domain (PKD1-CTD) into a prokaryotic expression vector, and site-directed mutagenesis was performed to target the four tyrosine residues and four serine residues in two putative phosphorylation sites. In vitro phosphorylation assays were conducted on both wild type and mutant PKD1-CTD fusion proteins. It was found that the wild type PKD1-CTD and all mutant fusion proteins, except S4251G/S4252G, could be phosphorylated by lysates from cultured normal human renal collecting tubule (NHCT) cells, as well as by commercially purified cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA). The phosphorylation of the PKD1-CTD fusion protein by NHCT lysates was greatly enhanced by cAMP and its analog 8-Br-cAMP, and inhibited by the specific PKA inhibitors PKI(6-22) and H-89. Activators and inhibitors of protein kinase C (PKC) had no effects on the phosphorylation of the PKD1-CTD fusion protein. Using commercially purified pp60(c-src) (c-src) it was also shown that the PKD1-CTD fusion protein could be phosphorylated by c-src in vitro, and that this phosphorylation could be abolished by a mutation Y4237F. By comparing the amino acid sequence at 4249-4253 (RRSSR) with the consensus sequence for PKA phosphorylation (RRXSX), we suggest that the serine residue at 4252 is the target of phosphorylation by a cAMP-dependent protein kinase in NHCT cell lysates. In addition, we suggest that Y4237 might be phosphorylated by c-src in living cells.

Cystic diseases of the kidney: role of adhesion molecules in normal and abnormal tubulogenesis.

This short review summarizes some information concerning what is known about matrix adhesion molecules, focal adhesion proteins, and cell-cell adhesion molecules in normal renal development and cystic diseases of the kidney. The focus is on human nephrogenesis and disease, but utilizes critical information gained from genetically manipulated mouse models. Interestingly, a significant role for the human PKD-1-encoded gene product, polycystin-1, has been found in cell-matrix interactions via integrins during development, and mutations lead to autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Recent studies on human ADPKD have implicated polycystin-1 in the formation of multiprotein complexes containing focal adhesion proteins at the basal cell surface of the normal ureteric bud. Further evidence of a critical role of cell-matrix interactions via focal adhesion complex formation is provided by the development of renal cystic disease in tensin knockout mice.

WT1 expression induces features of renal epithelial differentiation in mesenchymal fibroblasts.

The WT1 tumor suppressor gene, implicated in hereditofamilial and sporadic Wilms' tumor, is required for normal renal development and is up-regulated during the mesenchymal-epithelial transition. NIH3T3 fibroblasts overexpressing WT1 were less proliferative, larger in size and more firmly attached to tissue culture plastic, suggesting an alteration of their state of differentiation. These cells were studied in vivo by subcutaneous injection into nude mice. The resulting tumors exhibited epithelioid histopathology and formed desmosome-like structures. Molecular analyses of these WT1 expressing fibroblasts grown in culture and in nude mice revealed significant alterations in the expression of many kidney epithelial markers. These studies indicate that WT1 expression can initiate features of a program of epithelial differentiation consistent with a prominent role for WT1 in the mesenchymal epithelial transition that occurs during renal development. Through this work we identified a number of novel target genes for the WT1 transcription factor, including uvomorulin, integrin alpha8 and perlecan, and suggest that WTI may activate the IGF-II gene, also implicated in the development of Wilms' tumor.

Midkine induces tumor cell proliferation and binds to a high affinity signaling receptor associated with JAK tyrosine kinases.

The G401 cell line derived from a rhabdoid tumor of the kidney secretes the heparin-binding growth factors midkine and pleiotrophin. Both proteins act as mitogens for diverse cells, but only midkine serves as an autocrine mitogen for G401 tumor cells. We show that midkine specifically binds a protein or complex of molecular mass greater than 200 kDa with high affinity (Kd = 0.07 +/- 0.01 nM). Midkine, but not pleiotrophin, stimulates tyrosine phosphorylation of several cellular proteins with molecular mass of 100, 130, and 200+ kDa. Upon midkine binding, the midkine-receptor complex associates with the Janus tyrosine kinases, JAK1 and JAK2. MK stimulates tyrosine phosphorylation of JAK1, JAK2, and STAT1alpha. Our initial characterization of the midkine receptor suggests that midkine autocrine stimulation of tumor cell proliferation is mediated by a cell-surface receptor which in turn might activate the JAK/STAT pathway.

Midkine stimulates Wilms' tumor cell proliferation via its signaling receptor.

Midkine, but not pleiotrophin, is mitogenic to human Wilms' tumor cells (G401 line) in dose-dependent and time-dependent fashion. Midkine specifically binds to high affinity (Kd = 0.15 +/- 0.02 nM, 210 kDa) and low affinity receptors (Kd = 0.65 +/- 0.07 nM, 75 kDa) on G401 cell surface, that has been confirmed by cross-linking and competition experiments. In addition, midkine stimulates a tyrosine phosphorylation of several proteins with molecular weight about 110-115 kDa, 130-140 kDa and 210 kDa. These data allow us to suggest that a key point in stimulation of G401 cell proliferation is interaction of midkine to its signaling receptor.

Developmental regulation of CFTR expression during human nephrogenesis.

Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) mRNA and protein are expressed in proximal and distal tubules of the human kidney, but CFTR expression pattern during human nephrogenesis is unknown. We have now studied CFTR expression in fetal kidneys by immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis, using six antibodies against human CFTR. CFTR was expressed in 12-wk human fetal kidneys, mostly in the apical membrane region of the ureteric bud epithelial cells. By 15 wk, CFTR was also diffusely expressed throughout the cytoplasm of proximal tubules and loops of Henle. No glomerular staining was seen at any state. From 15 to 24 wk of gestation this staining pattern remained constant and also included immunoreactivity of the transitional epithelium. Western blot for CFTR was performed on membrane extracts of human fetal kidneys, using T84 cells as a positive control. A 165-kDa protein corresponding to the predicted size of CFTR was seen at 13 wk and throughout development. We also observed a 75-kDa protein that was distinctly regulated during development. This protein was detected with several antibodies against the first half of CFTR (including the regulatory "R" domain) but not with a COOH-terminal-specific antibody and had the predicted size of a functional splice variant of CFTR identified in the human kidney. These results show the complex regulation of CFTR during nephrogenesis and raise the question of the respective roles of the full-length and the splice variant CFTR proteins in the human kidney.

Expression of aquaporins-1 and -2 during nephrogenesis and in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

Aquaporin-1 (AQP1), located in proximal tubules (PT) and descending thin limbs of Henle (DTL), and aquaporin-2 (AQP2), located in collecting ducts (CD), are channels involved in water transport across renal tubule epithelia. Using antibodies against AQP1 and AQP2, we here show expression of AQP1 and AQP2 in normal human developing and adult kidneys and in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Unlike in rats, AQP1 and AQP2 are expressed early during human nephrogenesis (12-wk gestation). AQP1 was first seen in developing PT epithelia, predominantly in apical cell membranes, and, at 15 wk, was also detected in DTL. AQP2 was seen in apical cell membranes of the branching ureteric bud and CD system from 12 wk and throughout development. In adult normal kidneys, AQP1 was localized to apical and basolateral membrane domains of PT and DTL, whereas AQP2 was restricted to principal cells of CD. This distribution of AQP1 and AQP2 was also seen in early stage ADPKD, except that AQP1 was mostly located in the apical membrane region of expanded PT. In end-stage ADPKD, two-thirds of the cysts expressed either AQP1 or AQP2, but these two water channels were never colocalized in the same cyst. Western blot analysis showed maximal expression of AQP1 and AQP2 in normal adult kidneys, lower levels in fetal kidneys, and decreases associated with degree of cystic progression in ADPKD. These data 1) demonstrate specific, mutually exclusive localization of AQP1 and AQP2 in human fetal and adult kidneys; 2) show that both channels are expressed early during nephrogenesis; and 3) show that the mutual exclusivity of localization is maintained even into end-stage ADPKD.

Renal proximal tubular epithelium from patients with nephropathic cystinosis: immortalized cell lines as in vitro model systems.

The renal proximal tubule is a major site of injury in a variety of congenital/metabolic diseases including nephropathic cystinosis, the most commonly known cause of renal Fanconi's syndrome. In this lysosomal storage disease there are defects in proximal tubule function within the first few months of life. While culture of renal tubular cells from the urine of these patients is possible, development of immortalized cell lines would insure large numbers of homogeneous cells for studies of renal epithelial cell morphology and pathophysiology in this disease. To develop immortalized cells, cystinotic and normal proximal tubular cells in culture were exposed to an immortalizing vector, containing pZiptsU19 with the temperature sensitive SV40 T-antigen allele tsA58U19 and a neomycin resistance gene, and neomycin-resistant tubular cells were selected for propagation. Ten clones from cystinotic patients have been developed and characterized. All clones express T-antigen at permissive temperature (33 degrees C). Immortalized cells have an epithelial morphology and grow to form confluent monolayers; doubling times vary from 31 to 86 hours. Cystinotic clones are keratin, MDR P-glycoprotein, and alpha-95 kD brush-border associated protein positive but Tamm-Horsfall protein negative by immunocytochemistry, as are normal proximal tubule cells immortalized with this vector. This is consistent with a proximal tubule origin of the cystinotic clones. The cystine content of the cystinotic cells is 70 to 160 times that of normal renal proximal tubular cells in culture, with most of the cystine sequestered in cell lysosomes, confirming that these cell lines express the storage defect.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A putative Wilms tumor-secreted growth factor activity required for primary culture of human nephroblasts.

Establishment of cell culture systems for the study of organogenesis during human embryonic development could provide the basis for the study of molecular mechanisms that regulate cellular proliferation and organ morphogenesis. We have developed a cell culture system for undifferentiated mesenchymal cells isolated from the human fetal kidney, which retain the potential for conversion to differentiated epithelia in vitro. Microdissected marginal zone nephroblasts were treated with trypsin and plated on gelatin prior to unlimited serial passage in suspension. An absolute requirement for the indefinite proliferation of these undifferentiated progenitors was nephroblast growth factor (NB-GF), a growth factor activity secreted by a Wilms tumor cell line. The mitogenic effects of NB-GF were not reproduced by previously described growth factors known to be mitogenic for renal cells or by leukemia inhibitory factor. In addition, cultured nephroblasts were shown to retain their ability to differentiate into epithelia when exposed to 10% serum-containing medium in the absence of NB-GF. Immunocytochemical cytoskeletal protein marker analysis showed mutually exclusive staining of vimentin in nephroblasts and cytokeratin in epithelia. These findings suggest that NB-GF may play an important role in the regulation of nephroblast proliferation during renal development and in Wilms tumor biology.

Expression of rat fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 as three splicing variants during kidney development.

Fibroblast growth factors (FGF) are known to participate in the processes of embryogenesis and angiogenesis. This study was undertaken to examine the transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of the FGF receptor 1 (FGFR-1) subclass in the embryonic rat kidney. Two full-length FGF receptor cDNAs were cloned using low-stringency screening of a neonatal rat kidney library with a chicken FGFR-1 cDNA probe. Sequencing revealed these cloned cDNAs to be rat homologues of the FGFR-1 subtype, with the two clones representing splicing variants beta and gamma of the FGFR-1. Evidence for renal expression of a third splicing variant (alpha) was obtained by use of the polymerase chain reaction. Splicing variants alpha and beta of FGFR-1 are predicted to produce cell-surface FGF receptors with three and two immunoglobulin-like domains, respectively, whereas the gamma-isoform may represent an intracellular form of the receptor. Although all three splicing variants were expressed in the developing kidney at days 14, 17, and 20 of gestation, at neonatal days 1 and 7 and in mature rats the beta-isoform was present in vastly larger abundance than alpha- and gamma-isoforms at all stages studied. Northern blot analysis revealed enhanced expression of FGFR-1 in the neonatal compared with the mature kidney. It is concluded that FGFR-1 is expressed in the kidney predominantly as the beta-isoform splicing variant and that expression of this receptor is enhanced during kidney development.