AJP - Renal Physiology, Vol 257, Issue 6 1065-F1078, Copyright © 1989 by American Physiological Society

ARTICLES

Rat mesangial cells produce granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor

K. Budde, D. L. Coleman, J. Lacy and R. B. Sterzel
Department of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510.

Because inflammatory processes in renal glomeruli may involve monocyte-macrophages (MPs) and T-lymphocytes, we have investigated whether products of glomerular mesangial cells (MCs) can stimulate the proliferative activity of these effector cells. We found that cultured rat MCs (subcultures 2-15), maintained under serum-free conditions, secrete a soluble factor into the supernate [MC-conditioned medium (CM)], which supports growth of the T-helper cell-derived line HT-2. Moreover, MC-CM increased [3H]thymidine incorporation by thioglycollate-elicited peritoneal MPs but did not induce growth of the interleukin 2 (IL-2)- or interleukin 4 (IL-4)-dependent cell line CTLL-2. Further functional, serological, and biochemical analysis of MC-CM revealed that rat MCs secrete a cytokine that, by all of the techniques used, is indistinguishable from granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Both northern blot and in situ hybridization with a specific cDNA probe for murine GM-CSF showed that MCs express GM-CSF mRNA transcripts. The present findings indicate that cultured rat MCs produce GM-CSF. Release of GM-CSF by MCs in vivo may play a role in the interaction of MCs with MPs, T-cells, and neutrophils in glomerular disease.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. R. Kitching, X. Ru Huang, A. L. Turner, P. G. Tipping, A. R. Dunn, and S. R. Holdsworth The Requirement for Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor and Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor in Leukocyte-Mediated Immune Glomerular Injury J. Am. Soc. Nephrol., February 1, 2002; 13(2): 350 - 358. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]