Deficiency in intercellular communication in two established renal epithelial cell lines (LLC-PK1 and MDCK)

We have studied the cell-to-cell passage of uridine nucleotides in two renal epithelial cell lines (LLC-PK1 and MDCK) and in porcine aortic endothelial cells (PAE). All three cell types incorporated tritiated uridine. After a 3 h incubation the radioactivity was predominantly in the form of acid-soluble compounds, mainly UTP. Prelabelled LLC-PK1 or MDCK cells were unable to transfer radioactivity to added adjacent, non-labelled cells, whereas PAE cells readily formed communicating intercellular junctions, as judged by autoradiographic analysis after a 3 h co-culture period. Cell-to-cell communication in either of the renal cell lines was not promoted by treatment with dibutyryl cyclic AMP and methylisobutylxanthine. Radioactivity incorporated into the acid-insoluble pool was not available for intercellular transfer, as assessed in experiments in which cells were prelabelled 24 h before co-culture.