Effects of mitogens and other agents on rat mesangial cell proliferation, pH, and Ca2+

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Abstract
We investigated effects of various agents on proliferation, intracellular pH (pHi), and intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) of rat mesangial cells (MCs) in early passages (2-5). Serum-starved MCs incubated in HCO3- were exposed to one of the following: fetal calf serum (FCS), serotonin, angiotensin II (ANG II), arginine vasopressin (AVP), bombesin (Bom), bradykinin (BK), epidermal growth factor (EGF), epinephrine (Epi), interleukin 1 (IL-1), norepinephrine (NE), neuropeptide Y, oxytocin, substance P (SP), platelet-derived growth factor, or 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). We assessed DNA synthesis from [3H]thymidine uptake during exposure to test agent. All agents except ANG II, NE, Bom, and SP were mitogenic. When MCs were incubated in a HCO3--free N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine-N''-2-ethanesulfonic acid-buffered medium, maximal mitogenic responses to FCS, AVP, and EGF were 41, 44, and 55% (P < 0.01) lower, respectively, than those in presence of HCO3-. In absence of HCO3-, agents other than BK and IL-1 produced a biphasic pHi response characterized by a transient acidification followed by a prolonged alkalinization that was both Na+-dependent and amiloride-sensitive. In presence of HCO3-, agents produced only a small and gradual acidification, except for IL-1 and Epi. Addition of all agonists except IL-1, EGF, and TPA produced significant transient increases in [Ca2+]i, the magnitudes of which were similar in HCO3- and non-HCO3- buffers. These results demonstrate that, in presence of HCO3-, agents (i.e., NE and ANG II) can produce typical [Ca2+]i transients and still not cause MC proliferation. Conversely, an agent may cause proliferation without eliciting a short-term change in either [Ca2+]i or pHi (i.e., IL-1), a change in [Ca2+]i but not pHi (i.e., Epi), or a change in pHi but not [Ca2+]i (i.e., TPA). Thus, at least for MCs, proliferation in HCO3- can be dissociated from early agonist-induced changes in pHi and [Ca2+]i.