Vasoactive diadenosine polyphosphates promote growth of cultured renal mesangial cells.

Diadenosine polyphosphates (diadenosine triphosphate, Ap3A; diadenosine tetraphosphate, Ap4A; diadenosine pentaphosphate, Ap5A; diadenosine hexaphosphate, Ap6A) are potent vasoactive molecules stored and released by platelets. We examined whether these dinucleotides might contribute to the glomerular inflammatory response by stimulating the proliferation of mesangial cells. In cultured rat mesangial cells all four tested dinucleotides (10 to 100 mumol/L) significantly stimulated DNA synthesis as measured by [3H]thymidine uptake at 48 hours (x-fold increase compared with unstimulated control cells: Ap3A, 1.5; Ap4A, 1.8; Ap5A, 1.6; Ap6A, 1.6). In combination with the platelet products platelet-derived growth factor, epidermal growth factor, and serotonin, the dinucleotides synergistically increased DNA synthesis. Dinucleotides by themselves increased cell counts by 23% to 43% at day 2 and augmented mesangial cell growth induced by platelet-derived growth factor, epidermal growth factor, and serotonin. Furthermore, dinucleotides (100 mumol/L) rapidly induced a modest increase in expression of the early growth response gene Egr-1 at 30 minutes (x-fold increase over baseline control: Ap3A, 1.9; Ap4A, 2.8; Ap5A, 2.2; Ap6A, 2.1). We found that extracellular Ap4A was metabolized by mesangial cell ectoenzymes to mononucleotides and adenosine, which also have been shown to be mitogenic for mesangial cells. The combination of Ap4A with mononucleotides or adenosine failed to cause additive stimulation of DNA synthesis in mesangial cells. We conclude that diadenosine polyphosphates stimulate proliferation of cultured mesangial cells and augment mesangial cell growth induced by other mitogens released from platelets. Different molecular mechanisms may be involved in dinucleotide-induced mitogenesis of mesangial cells. Direct effects of dinucleotides on cultured mesangial cells. Direct effects of dinucleotides on cultured mesangial cells appear to play a role because dinucleotides rapidly caused activation of Egr-1.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Inhibition of immediate-early-gene induction in renal mesangial cells by depletion of intracellular polyamines.

Mitogens have been shown to stimulate the activity of the rate-limiting enzyme for polyamine synthesis, ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), and ODC mRNA expression in cultured rat mesangial cells (MCs). In addition, inhibition of ODC by alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) results in growth arrest of MCs. To elucidate the mechanisms involved in the inhibition of MC proliferation due to polyamine depletion, we studied the effects of DFMO on the activation of phospholipase C and induction of the immediate early genes (IEGs), c-fos, c-jun and Egr-1, which are thought to regulate cell growth. Mitogenic 10% fetal-calf serum (FCS) and 1 unit/ml thrombin activated phospholipase C in MCs within 30 s, as assessed by generation of [3H]inositol phosphates. This activation was not affected by DFMO. mRNAs of the IEGs c-fos, c-jun and Egr-1 were induced by FCS within 15 min. Expression of these genes reached a peak at 60 min and disappeared at 3 h. Treatment of MCs with a growth-suppressing dose of DFMO (5 mM) inhibited mRNAs of all three IEGs by 52-87% at 1 h. Total expression of Egr-1 over 20-120 min was diminished by 41%, and the time point of maximal expression was delayed by 40 min. This inhibitory effect was abolished in a time-dependent manner (1-3 days) by prior addition of 200 microM putrescine, the reaction product of ODC. Egr-1 mRNA expression was super-induced by the inhibitor of protein synthesis, cycloheximide. This effect was also blocked by DFMO. The results indicate that the DFMO-induced process of MC growth inhibition involves steps necessary for IEG activation. The signal-transduction step sensitive to polyamines occurs distal to the activation of phospholipase C. Since reconstitution of normal induction of IEGs requires 3 days, it seems likely that polyamine depletion affects the regulation of IEG expression in an indirect fashion. We conclude that activation of IEGs requires the presence of polyamines and plays a significant role in the induction of MC replication.

Extracellular ATP stimulates proliferation of cultured mesangial cells via P2-purinergic receptors.

We examined the role of the platelet product ATP in regulating replication and secretory activity of cultured rat mesangial cells (MCs). Extracellular ATP (25-100 microM) significantly increased [3H]thymidine uptake of growth-arrested MCs 2.1-fold; cell counts increased by 35.1%. Addition of ATP to MCs in combination with other platelet products, such as platelet-derived growth factor, isoform BB (100 ng/ml), and serotonin (1 microM), resulted in strong synergistic mitogenicity (up to 45.6-fold over control). As immediate signaling events following stimulation with ATP, we found increased production of inositol phosphates (3.2-fold increase for inositol bisphosphate and 1.6-fold increase for inositol trisphosphate by 30 s) and release of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2, 9.2-fold increase by 5 min). When we studied the rank order of potency of various ATP analogues for the production of inositol phosphates and PGE2, ATP, UTP, and adenosine 5'-O-(3-thio)triphosphate (ATP gamma S) were the most potent agonists. Although ATP and ATP gamma S were also strong mitogens, UTP was not. Additional inhibitor studies indicated that protein kinase C or cyclooxygenase products were not involved in the mitogenic effects of ATP. In summary, the major platelet product ATP is a potent comitogen for cultured MCs and strongly synergizes with other growth factors. The experiments with ATP analogues point to different receptors mediating mitogenesis, generation of inositol phosphates, and PGE2 production. The precise mechanism of the mitogenic action of ATP on MCs remains to be characterized.