The aim of this study was to establish an immortalized human mesangial cell line similar to mesangial cells in vivo for use as a tool for understanding glomerular cell function. Mesangial cells were isolated from glomerular outgrowths from a normal human kidney, then retrovirally transfected with a temperature-sensitive SV40T antigen+human telomerase (hTERT). Mesangial cells exhibited features ...

The present study investigated the effects of immunosuppressive agents [tacrolimus (Tac), cyclosporine A (CsA), mycophenolic acid (MMF) and methylprednisone (MP)] on the proliferation, cell cycle progression and apoptotic rate of human mesangial cells. Cultured human mesangial cells were treated with several concentrations of the immunosuppressive agents for 24, 48 or 72 h. Cell cycle progressi...

The pathologic hallmarks of diabetic nephropathy are excess mesangial extracellular matrix (ECM) and mesangial cell proliferation. We previously showed that mesangial cell phenotypic changes play an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy. We concluded that phenotypic changes were present in bone marrow (BM)-derived mesangial cell progenitors, as transplantation of BM from db...

Monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), a specific chemoattractant for monocytes, has been thought to play an important role in the recruitment and accumulation of monocytes within the glomerulus seen in glomerular diseases. This study examined the role of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha-mediated cellular signal transduction pathways on mesangial cell MCP-1 gene expression and monocyte migrat...

J. Lima, Service of Internal Medicine, Hospital General “Valle Hebron’, Paseo Valle Hebron S/N, E-08035 Barcelona (Spain) Dear Sir, Renal involvement in benign monoclonal gammopathy (BMG) is rare [1]. Although the histological findings in renal biopsies are very varied, we found only 1 case of BMG and glomerulonephritis (GN) with endoand extracapillary proliferation [2]. We studied a patient wi...

BACKGROUND In vitro experiments have revealed that toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) pathway is involved in the progression of immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) by induction of proinflammatory cytokines. Evidence showed that, in other disease models, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) agonists have been shown to exert anti-inflammatory effects through suppression of the expressio...

Mesangial cells possess a variety of receptors for hormones and autacoids. They are also equipped with ectoenzymes whose function may be to control the availability of autacoids and hormones at their receptor sites. Several examples are considered. Receptors for angiotensin II (AII) are present both on murine and human mesangial cells. One single group of receptors has been demonstrated in each...

Mesangial cells play an important role in maintaining a structure and function of the glomerulus and in the pathogenesis of glomerular diseases. Recently, we discovered a new mesangium-predominant gene termed "megsin." Megsin is a novel protein that belongs to the serine protease inhibitor (serpin) superfamily. To elucidate the pathophysiologic role of megsin in the kidney, the expression and l...

Noriaki Yorioka, MD, 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Hiroshima University School of Medicine, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima City 734 (Japan) Dear Sir, Based on the hypothesis of Moorhead et al. [1], abnormalities of the lipid metabolism are now considered aggravating factors for glomerulonephritis. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL), a cholesterol-rich lipoprotein, attracted attention, ini...

Background: Diabetic nephropathy is one of the causes of end stage renal diseases (ESRD). Increase of IGF-1(insulin like growth factor) and GH (growth hormone) in diabetes induce kidney lesions especially Intraglomerular mesangial expansion, glomerular sclerosis and finally nephron dysfunction. In this research, IGF-1 and GH production inhibition by octreotide and sclerosis inhibition assessed ...