Mesangial cells are specialized pericyte/smooth muscle cells that surround and constrain the vascular network within the glomerulus of the kidney. They are derived from the stromal mesenchyme, a progenitor population distinct from nephron stem cells. Whether mesangial cells have a distinct origin from vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and the pathways that govern their specification are unkn...

Aim The intraglomerular mesangial cells are located between the glomerular capillaries. Here we hypothesized that regulate single nephron filtration rate (snGFR) and support integrity of barrier. Methods We assessed function in vivo by multiphoton microscopy. Mesangial were depleted Munich Wistar Froemter rats using Thy1.1 antibody model. Results caused cell-specific loss 82 ± 3% cells. After c...

This paper reviews current concepts of glomerular immune injury of both inflammatory and noninflammatory types. In noninflammatory lesions induced by antibody alone or C5b-9, the glomerular epithelial cell appears to be the principal target of injury. Similar mechanisms are probably operative in human diseases such as minimal change nephrotic syndrome and membranous nephropathy. In inflammatory...

Indoxyl sulfate is a protein metabolite that is concentrated in the serum of patients with chronic renal insufficiency. It also is a uremic toxin that has been implicated in the progression of chronic renal disease in rodent models. We have shown previously that mesangial cell redox status is related to activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases and cell proliferation, which are factors re...

These studies evaluated the contribution of insulin to the development of the abnormal mesangial matrix that characterizes diabetic nephropathy and is common to mesangial cells in culture. Glomeruli were isolated from a single rat and divided into two aliquots. In one set (SI-MC), the insulin contained in the medium was only that contributed by the fetal calf serum (20%). For the other set, the...

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is characterized by raised serum IgA and predominant mesangial IgA deposits of polymeric nature. The expression of IgA receptor molecules in white blood cells and glomerular mesangial cells has recently attracted much attention in relation to the uptake of IgA by these cells. This study investigates the expression of IgA Fc receptor (Fc alphaR1 or CD89), asialoglycoprotei...

The aim of our study was to investigate the role of autophagy, a homeostatic process involved in the lysosomal degradation of damaged cell organelles and proteins, in regulating the survival of mesangial cells treated with advanced glycation end products (AGEs). In the present study, AGEs induced mitochondrial depolarization and led to mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis in mesangial cells, as sh...

We investigated whether platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), or its receptor (PDGF-R), was upregulated in a rat model of mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis. A marked increase in both PDGF A- and B-chain mRNA could be demonstrated in glomerular RNA by Northern blot analysis 3 and 5 days after disease induction, corresponding to the time of mesangial cell proliferation. PDGF-R beta-subu...

Although mesangial cell death has been shown to be correlated with mesangial cell mitosis in vivo, little is known about how these two apparently opposite events are regulated. We show that the addition of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF; 10-50 ng/ml) to primary cultured rat mesangial cells for 24 h caused continuous proliferation along with simultaneous cell death. This process was accomp...