Metabolic actions of insulin-like growth factor I in cultured glomerular mesangial cells

Glomerular mesangial cells in culture have been reported to possess a considerable number of receptors specific to insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), with very small number of receptors specific to insulin. To explore acute metabolic effects of IGF-I on mesangial cells, uptake of glucose and amino acid was measured in the presence of IGF-I or insulin. IGF-I stimulated D-[U-14C]glucose incorporation, 2-deoxy[1-3H]glucose uptake and alpha-[methyl-3H]aminoisobutyric acid (AIB) uptake into cultured mesangial cells by 139.8% +/- 2.1%, 116.6% +/- 1.7%, and 214.9% +/- 12.8% (percent of basal), respectively. Similar maximal stimulation was also induced by insulin, while the ED50 of IGF-I to stimulate these uptake systems (9.98 +/- 2.36, 3.45 +/- 1.86, and 3.35 +/- 0.40 ng/mL, respectively) was significantly lower than that of insulin (120.8 +/- 28.5, 61.8 +/- 7.7, and 76.3 +/- 17.5, respectively). These results indicate that, in cultured glomerular mesangial cells, IGF-I induces acute metabolic effects, possibly through its own receptors.