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Biomedical subjects

L G Fine

Publications and source records attributed to L G Fine.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Do glomerular hemodynamic adaptations influence the progression of human renal disease?

Although experiments in the rat suggest that glomerular hemodynamic alterations following a reduction of renal mass may be implicated in the progression of chronic renal failure, we argue that the deleterious effects of similar adaptations in human renal disease are unproven. In the otherwise normal solitary kidney the supranormal glomerular filtration rate (GFR) remains stable over the longterm, and in early diabetic nephropathy which is also accompanied by hyperfiltration, renal deterioration cannot be dissociated from a rise in systemic blood pressure. In patients with miscellaneous renal diseases and a depressed basal GFR there is indirect evidence that hyperfiltration might occur in some of the remnant glomeruli. However, at present there is little conclusive evidence to indicate that therapies which might normalize glomerular hemodynamics, e.g., dietary protein restriction, have any effect on progression of renal disease, or that angiotensin converting-enzyme inhibitors, which lower glomerular capillary pressure, have any advantage over other antihypertensive agents which are equally efficacious in lowering systemic blood pressure.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Integration of new embryonic nephrons into the kidney.

The current report summarizes our experiments exploring the feasibility of creating a chimeric kidney, that is, an organ constituted by cells derived from more than one fertilized ovum. The overall strategy has been to obtain donor renal tissue from avian and murine embryos and to implant this into the host avian mesonephric mesoderm or into the cortex of murine neonatal kidney. In both models, donor cells were distinguished from the host by the presence of characteristic nuclear or cytoplasmic markers. Examination of quail to chick transplants showed the tandem development of mesonephric tissue in the form of bilobed organ. In the mouse chimeric kidney, examined 2 to 4 weeks postnatally, transplanted metanephric tissue grew and developed glomeruli, proximal tubules, and cords of cells, which extended into the medulla of the host kidney. Before death, intravenous FITC-dextran was administered to the host mouse. Some transplanted tubules were connected to filtering glomeruli, as judged by the presence of fluorescein within their lumens. These experimental models provide novel means with which to study nephrogenesis in vivo. Finally, if the embryonic donor tissue could be genetically engineered before implantation, the prospect of "nephron therapy" arises, in which altered implanted nephrons could deliver therapeutically useful molecules into the urine or kidney interstitium.

Animals↗

Primary response gene expression in renal hypertrophy and hyperplasia: evidence for different growth initiation processes.

Unilateral nephrectomy is followed by compensatory renal hypertrophy, a response in which the cells of the contralateral kidney increase in size and protein content without synthesizing DNA or dividing. To determine whether the earliest phase of the hypertrophic response has features similar to mitogenic or differentiation responses, we have characterized the expression of several primary-response genes, the 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-inducible sequences (TIS) genes, which are rapidly and transiently induced in the absence of intervening protein synthesis, in a variety of mitogenic and differentiation cell systems. TIS gene induction was studied in the contralateral kidney of uninephrectomized and sham-operated mice, as well as in the kidneys of mice in which renal cell proliferation was induced by folic acid injection. Induction of TIS 1, TIS 8, and TIS 11 mRNA levels following folic acid administration peaked at 2 to 4 h and persisted up to 6 to 12 h after mitogenic stimulation. In contrast, a qualitatively different pattern was observed after both uninephrectomy and sham operation; a short-lived increase (up to 1 h) in mRNA levels occurred for the three TIS genes. This pattern was qualitatively similar to that observed in the sham-operated animals. We conclude that renal hypertrophy induced by unilateral nephrectomy is a distinct cellular response, distinguishable at the earliest transcriptional level from a mitogenic response and from the responses that characterize several pathways of cell differentiation.

Animals↗

Fibroblasts of rabbit kidney in culture. I. Characterization and identification of cell-specific markers.

There is currently no information available as to whether different renal fibroblast subpopulation can be identified and whether they show differences in functional properties. We therefore compared the growth characteristics of interstitial fibroblasts derived from the rabbit renal cortex and inner medulla (papilla) and sought cell-specific markers for the two populations of cells. Analyses of the population dynamics revealed that the mitotic lifespan of papillary fibroblasts (PF) is approximately 50% longer than that of cortical fibroblasts (CF), with the former going through 20 cumulative population doublings (CPD) before transition into terminally differentiated postmitotic cells compared with 9 CPD in CF. PF and CF populations contained three types of mitotically active cells (MFI, MFII, MFIII) and three types of postmitotic cells (PMFIV, PMFV, PMFVI) differentiating along a terminal cell lineage from MFI through PMFVI. In both PF and CF cultures the percent of MF-type cells decreased and the percent of postmitotic cells increased with successive doublings. Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of uniform clonal populations of MFIII-type cells revealed two specific proteins for PF-MFIII-type cells, pf1 and pf2, and three specific proteins for CF-MFIII-type cells, cf1, cf2, and cf3. Additionally, a monoclonal antibody was raised that does not recognize CF in culture, but reacts strongly with PF. These studies demonstrate that rabbit renal PF have a pattern of growth in vitro that is distinct from that of CF and that they can be positively identified by specific immunological and protein markers in vitro.

Animals↗

Fibroblasts of rabbit kidney in culture. II. Paracrine stimulation of papillary fibroblasts by PDGF.

To examine the role of tubulointerstitial cell interaction in the regulation of fibroblast growth, fibroblasts from the rabbit renal cortex (CF) and papilla (PF) were cocultured with epithelial cells from the same tissue location. Inner medullary collecting duct epithelial cells (IMCDE) or IMCDE-conditioned medium stimulated DNA synthesis in PF, whereas proximal tubule epithelium (PTE) had no effect on the proliferation of CF. PF and CF showed a similar mitogenic response to exogenous epidermal growth factor and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-I). Transforming growth factor-beta 1 inhibited growth of both cell types, and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) had no effect on proliferation of either cell type. In contrast, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) was a potent mitogen for PF but was only weakly mitogenic for CF. Both CF and PF expressed a similar number of a single-affinity class of PDGF receptors (Kd, 2-4 x 10(-10) M). Assay for growth factor activity in conditioned medium from IMCDE and PTE showed that only IMCDE produced detectable PDGF. IMCDE-stimulated proliferation of PF was partially blocked by an antibody to PDGF, whereas antibodies to IGF-I had no neutralizing effect. The data suggest a role for PDGF in the regulation of interstitial fibroblast proliferation by IMCDE in the renal papilla. This paracrine system may be important in the pathogenesis of some forms of interstitial fibrosis of the kidney.

Animals↗

Creation of a functioning chimeric mammalian kidney.

The possibility of adding new nephrons to the mammalian kidney was studied. Embryonic metanephric tissue was implanted into the renal cortex of neonatal mice less than 24 hours old, and the development of the chimeric kidney was followed over the following two to four weeks. Donor tissue was obtained from the homozygous beige mouse and a mouse line transgenic for the beta-globin gene, which provided distinct cellular and nuclear markers which were used to distinguish donor from recipient nephrons. Differentiation and growth of donor nephrons occurred in the host kidney and included vascularized glomeruli, mature proximal tubules, and tubular extensions into the renal medulla. Glomerular filtration was demonstrable in donor nephrons using FITC-dextran as a marker of filtration into the proximal tubules. Transplantation of metanephric tissue into adult mouse kidneys did not lead to glomerular or tubular differentiation. This study demonstrates the feasibility of adding functioning nephrons to mammalian kidneys in species in which there is ongoing nephrogenesis post-natally.

Animals↗

Epidermal growth factor accelerates functional recovery from ischaemic acute tubular necrosis in the rat: role of the epidermal growth factor receptor.

1. Severe, ischaemic, acute tubular necrosis was induced in rats by bilateral occlusion of the renal arteries. The experimental group received exogenous epidermal growth factor infused directly into the renal arterial circulation. Serum creatinine concentration was measured daily for 1 week. Epidermal growth factor receptor binding was measured by autoradiography of whole kidney sections. Renal cell proliferation was measured by incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA. 2. Serum creatinine concentration increased after acute tubular necrosis with a peak at 48 h and remained elevated above control levels after 7 days. Binding of radiolabelled epidermal growth factor occurred in all regions of the kidney 48 h after ischaemia. Treatment with exogenous epidermal growth factor attenuated the rise in serum creatinine by 4 days after acute tubular necrosis and after 7 days serum creatinine was lower than in animals that did not receive epidermal growth factor. Infusion of epidermal growth factor also increased renal DNA synthesis. 3. The increase in epidermal growth factor binding in the kidney after acute tubular necrosis and the attenuation of the increase in serum creatinine concentration by administration of exogenous epidermal growth factor, suggest a role for epidermal growth factor in recovery from ischaemic damage. The increase in DNA synthesis in response to epidermal growth factor indicates that its effect may be due, at least in part, to accelerated tubular cell proliferation.

Acute Kidney Injury↗

Hypertrophy of renal mitochondria.

Compensatory renal hypertrophy leads to an increase in the size and metabolic capacity of renal tubular cells. Increased transport and metabolic activities must be sustained by an augmented rate of energy production, which is largely dependent on mitochondrial processes. Although previous studies have suggested that mitochondria proliferate in the hypertrophying cell, the data to support this have not been convincing. This study was designed to determine whether the mitochondria of the hypertrophied renal proximal tubular cell undergo hypertrophy or proliferation. Flow cytometric analysis of proximal tubular cells obtained from the kidneys of uninephrectomized rabbits revealed an increase in cell size and RNA content compared with control cells but showed no change in DNA content and nuclear size and no evidence of entry into the S/G2/M phases of the cell cycle. Histomorphometric analysis of cortical proximal tubules revealed that although cytoplasmic volume increased, mitochondrial density remained constant, indicating that mitochondrial volume increases in proportion to the increase in cell volume. By day 14, mitochondrial volume had increased 66% above control values. Electron microscopic examination of isolated S2 proximal tubules from 5/6 nephrectomized rabbits with maximal hypertrophy revealed mitochondrial cristae which appeared to be more densely packed than that in normal cells. The size of the functional mitochondrial pool per cell was determined by rhodamine-123 fluorescence. This increased within 24 h of uninephrectomy, peaked at approximately 80% above control levels at 5 days, and remained elevated throughout the 16 days of observation. The initial increase (days 1 and 2) occurred before a measurable increase in mitochondrial volume occurred and presumably reflects an increase in mitochondrial membrane potential.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

Renal hypertrophy, growth factors, and nephropathy in diabetes mellitus.

In early type 1 diabetes mellitus, hypertrophy of the kidney is a consistent finding. It is easily diagnosed using current noninvasive methods, especially ultrasonography. Renal functional changes occur in association with hypertrophy, most notably glomerular hyperfiltration. The structural counterpart of this functional change is an early increase in capillary filtration surface area. In most forms of nondiabetic renal hypertrophy, kidney size is closely linked to GFR, but in diabetes, hypertrophy persists after the clinical onset of overt kidney disease (microalbuminuria, hypertension, decreased GFR, etc). The fact that growth factors produced by the kidney can act in both an autocrine and paracrine fashion raises the possibility that the local effects of such substances may act as local mediators of kidney growth, but no such factor has been identified as the initiating or sustaining factor in diabetic hypertrophy. Failure of renal hypertrophy to reverse following strict glycemic control for a few months may turn out to be an important prognostic indicator of future progression of the renal disease, but this remains to be studied in a large group of patients.

Animals↗

Physiology and cell biology update: polypeptide growth factors and their relation to renal disease.

A number of polypeptide growth factors have been shown to act on different types of renal cells, and many are produced by the kidney itself. It is unclear whether the compensatory hypertrophy that follows the destruction of nephrons is under the control of growth factors, but they undoubtedly participate in various forms of progressive renal injury, including chronic glomerular and tubulointerstitial diseases via autocrine, paracrine, and possibly even endocrine routes. As new developments occur in this rapidly changing field, it is hoped that this knowledge can be used to ameliorate the damage, halt the progression, or enhance the recovery from a disease process in the kidney and in other tissues.

Animals↗

Glomerular atrial natriuretic factor receptors in primary glomerulopathies: studies on human renal biopsies.

Human renal biopsies are currently used to provide information about morphologic changes, chronicity of disease, patterns of inflammation, and immunoglobulin deposition. This practice has provided only limited insight into functional aberrations and has failed to provided information necessary for disease classification based on pathophysiology. To expand the potential of the renal biopsy in this regard and to determine whether differences in glomerular atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) binding exist in different forms of primary renal disease, quantitative autoradiography and 125I-human ANF (1-28) were used to determine the location and pharmacological characteristics of ANF binding sites in the normal human kidney. Specific ANF binding was highest in the glomeruli, but lower levels of specific binding were localized to the inner medulla and the interlobular arteries. ANF binding sites in the human kidney were found to be highly stable and similar in both location and pharmacology to those observed in experimental animals. As determined by saturation experiments, the equilibrium dissociation constants for glomeruli, inner medulla, and interlobular arteries were almost identical at 4.0 x 10(-11) mol/L. Competitive binding inhibition studies with unlabeled human ANF (1-28) demonstrated highly specific binding shared by the glomerulus, inner medulla, and interlobular artery, with apparent half-maximal inhibition concentrations of 9.2 x 10(-10) mol/L, 8.0 x -10 mol/L, and 8.2 x 10(-10) mol/L, respectively. Quantitation of specific binding of ANF to glomeruli in needle biopsy specimens of three primary glomerulopathies, ie, minimal-change disease, membranous nephropathy, and focal glomerulosclerosis, showed no differences among the groups. This study demonstrates the feasibility of studying receptor physiology on biopsy specimens of the human kidney and should allow renal diseases, particularly of glomerular origin, to be characterized according to differences in hormone binding and hormone responsiveness. The absence of significant differences in glomerular ANF binding in the primary glomerulopathies studied is consistent with other studies that have failed to delineate important pathophysiological differences in renal function and volume homeostasis in these disease states.

Atrial Natriuretic Factor↗

Molecular events in the organization of renal tubular epithelium: from nephrogenesis to regeneration.

Information from studies of embryonic nephrons and established renal tubular cell lines in culture can be integrated to derive a picture of how the renal tubule develops and regenerates after acute injury. During development, the formation of a morphologically polarized epithelium from committed nephric mesenchymal cells requires an external signal for mitogenesis and differentiation. Polypeptide growth factors, in some cases mediated through oncogene expression, act in an autocrine or paracrine fashion to stimulate the production of extracellular matrix proteins that probably provide the earliest orientation signal for the cell. Interaction of these proteins with cell surface receptors leads to early organization of the cytoskeletal actin network, which is the major scaffolding for further differentiation and for definition of plasma membrane domains. The formation of cell-cell contacts via specialized adhesion molecules integrates the epithelium into a polarized monolayer and maintains its fence function, i.e., separation of plasma membrane domains. Microtubules probably participate in the delivery of vesicles to specific plasma membrane domains and in the spatial organization of intracellular organelles. Following acute renal injury, this sequence of events appears to be reversed, resulting in partial or complete loss of differentiated features. Regeneration seems to follow the same pattern of sequential differentiation steps as nephrogenesis. The integrity of the epithelium is restored by reestablishing only those stages of differentiation that have been lost. Where cell death occurs, mitogenesis in adjacent cells restores the continuity of the epithelium and the entire sequence of differentiation events is initiated in the newly generated cells.

Animals↗