Fibronectin is the major fibroblast chemoattractant in rabbit anti-glomerular basement membrane disease

The mechanism for fibroblast recruitment in renal fibrosis due to anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) disease is unknown. Since fibroblast recruitment can occur via chemotaxis, assessment of the possible production of fibroblast chemotactic activity by affected renal tissue and its identification could provide important clues. Anti-GBM disease was induced by injection of guinea pig anti-rabbit GBM immunoglobulin G into rabbits previously sensitized to guinea pig immunoglobulin G. On days 4, 7, and 14 after induction, renal tissue was harvested and glomeruli isolated. Overnight serum-free conditioned media from whole cortex and glomeruli were prepared and assayed for fibroblast chemotactic activity. The results show low level activity in both conditioned media from control animals. In contrast, conditioned media from anti-GBM-treated animals at all time points showed significantly elevated fibroblast chemotactic activity peaking on day 4 with subsequent reduction thereafter. The magnitude of increase in cortical conditioned media was significantly higher than that for glomerular conditioned media, suggesting that most of the activity was derived from extraglomerular sources. Gel filtration analysis revealed the activity to be heterogeneous, consisting of at least four major species with estimated molecular weights ranging from 10 to > 100 kd. Acidification of conditioned media failed to increase chemotactic activity significantly, whereas protease digestion abolished it. Treatment of conditioned media with antifibronectin inhibited > 85% of the chemotactic activity, whereas antibodies to platelet-derived growth factor and transforming growth factor-beta did not have a significant effect. These findings taken together suggest that fibronectin-derived peptides represent the predominant fibroblast chemoattractant produced by renal cortex in anti-GBM disease.