Extracellular matrix regulates proliferation and phospholipid turnover in glomerular epithelial cells

To understand how glomerular epithelial cell (GEC) growth might be regulated in health and disease, we studied the effects of growth factors and extracellular matrix on proliferation and membrane phospholipid turnover in cultured rat GECs. In GECs adherent to type I collagen matrix, epidermal growth factor (EGF), insulin, and serum stimulated DNA synthesis and increased cell number. In addition, GECs proliferated when adherent to type IV collagen, but not to laminin or plastic substrata. Attachment of GECs to the substrata that facilitated proliferation (types I or IV collagen) produced increases in 1,2-diacylglycerol (DAG), an activator of protein kinase C (PKC). Increased DAG was associated with hydrolysis of inositol phospholipids and an increase in inositol trisphosphate and was not dependent on the presence of growth factors. After PKC downregulation (by preincubation with a high dose of phorbol myristate acetate), DNA synthesis was enhanced in GECs adherent to collagen. Thus contact of GECs with collagen matrices is required for serum, EGF, or insulin to induce proliferation. Collagen matrix also activates phospholipase C. As a result, the DAG-PKC signaling pathway desensitizes GECs to the mitogenic effects of growth factors and might promote cell differentiation. Understanding the interaction between GECs, growth factors, and extracellular matrix may elucidate the mechanisms of proliferation during glomerular injury.