A beta 1-integrin receptor for fibronectin in human kidney glomeruli

The fibronectin receptor (FNR) is a transmembrane heterodimeric glycoprotein which shares a common beta 1-chain with several other members of the integrin family of adhesion receptors. The authors have prepared a membrane fraction of isolated human glomeruli, from which two proteins (apparent molecular weights 120 kd and 140 kd) bound to a fibronectin-column, and were selectively released by the synthetic peptide Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser. These molecules were labeled in immune overlays by an antibody raised against the FNR from human placenta that recognizes both the FNR-specific a-chain and the group-specific beta 1-integrin chain. In sections of normal human kidneys this antibody labeled predominately the mesangia and the peripheral capillary walls of glomeruli by an immunoperoxidase procedure. Quantitative immunoelectron microscopy, using an indirect immunogold procedure, revealed a preferential localization along the cell membranes of mesangial, epithelial, and endothelial cells that face the mesangial matrix or the glomerular basement membrane (GBM). In kidney biopsies from patients with various glomerular diseases (membranous and other forms of glomerulonephritis, minimal change disease) the distribution was similar to that in normal glomeruli. These findings indicate that a beta 1-integrin-related FNR is present in normal and diseased human glomeruli.