Polyol pathway mediates high glucose-induced collagen synthesis in proximal tubule.

The polyol pathway in diabetes is activated in tissues that are not dependent on insulin for glucose uptake. To examine the role of the polyol pathway in renal extracellular matrix accumulation, we incubated murine proximal tubule cells in either normal or high glucose concentration in the presence or absence of the aldose reductase inhibitor sorbinil. Rising medium glucose from 100 to 450 mg/dl for 72 hours increased cell sorbitol levels sevenfold. Addition of 0.4 mM sorbinil reduced sorbitol content to virtually undetectable levels as measured by gas chromatography. Sorbinil (0.1 to 0.2 mM) also reduced the secretion of collagens types IV and I in the high glucose concentration after 48 to 72 hours but had no appreciable effect in the normal glucose concentration. Concordantly, 0.1 mM sorbinil inhibited the high glucose-induced stimulation of alpha 1(IV) and alpha 2(I) mRNA levels without affecting levels in normal glucose concentration. To study the role of transcriptional activation of collagen genes, we transfected proximal tubule cells with a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter gene linked to the promoter and regulatory elements of alpha 1(IV) gene. CAT activity increased several-fold in the cells grown in the high versus normal glucose concentration; this transcriptional activation in culture media containing high glucose concentration was reduced by treatment of the cells with 0.1 mM sorbinil. Thus, high ambient glucose activates the polyol pathway in proximal tubule cells, and may mediate the high glucose-induced stimulation of gene expression for collagens types IV and I.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Effect of myo-inositol on cell proliferation and collagen transcription and secretion in proximal tubule cells cultured in elevated glucose.

Tubulointerstitial lesions often develop in the kidneys of patients and experimental animals with diabetes mellitus. In an in vitro model of diabetic renal disease, it has been previously demonstrated in this laboratory that elevated glucose levels stimulate procollagen transcription and secretion in proximal tubule cells in culture while inducing cellular hypertrophy and reducing cellular proliferation. Previous experiments in other tissues have suggested that myo-inositol supplementation, probably by reversing a disturbance in cell myo-inositol metabolism related to increased activity of the polyol pathway, reverses the effects of glucose on cell function. We tested the effect of myo-inositol supplementation on proximal tubule cells in culture in the presence of elevated medium glucose level. Incubation in 450 mg/dL of glucose media reduced cell proliferation; 450 mg/dL of glucose plus myo-inositol (800 microM) increased proliferation, returning the value to that seen in cells incubated in 100 mg/dL of glucose. Incubation in 450 mg/dL of glucose media increased type IV and type I procollagen mRNA levels and peptide secretion rates compared with those seen in cells incubated in medium containing 100 mg/dL of glucose. This glucose-induced stimulation of procollagen mRNA levels and procollagen secretion was not observed when the elevated glucose medium was supplemented with 800 microM myo-inositol. On the other hand, myo-inositol supplementation did not prevent the glucose-induced cellular hypertrophy: there was no reduction in the increased leucine incorporation and cellular protein content. Cell incubation in 450 mg/dL of glucose media did not lead to a measurable decrease in total cellular myo-inositol.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

High glucose induces cell hypertrophy and stimulates collagen gene transcription in proximal tubule.

Tubulointerstitial changes in the diabetic kidney correlate closely with the decline in glomerular filtration. In this study, we used a cell culture system of mouse proximal tubule epithelial cells to test the effects of glucose on cell growth, size, and matrix biosynthesis. [3H]thymidine incorporation was significantly inhibited in cells grown in 450 mg/dl glucose, compared with cells grown in 100 mg/dl glucose. The cells grown in the higher glucose concentration were slightly larger, their protein content and the total protein synthetic rate were significantly increased, and they secreted approximately twice as much procollagens type IV and type I. Concordantly, steady-state procollagen mRNA levels were also increased: 2.6-fold for the alpha 1(IV) and 2.2-fold for the alpha 2(I) procollagens. Additionally, nuclear run-off studies demonstrated that procollagen gene transcription rate was stimulated approximately 50%; beta-actin transcription rate was not altered. We used chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter gene constructs to determine whether the increased transcription rate of alpha 2(I) gene was associated with activation of its enhancer sequence. Cells transfected with the enhancer demonstrated more than fivefold increase in CAT activity when cultured in the high-glucose medium. These studies demonstrate a multitude of effects of high ambient glucose concentrations on proximal tubule cell growth and collagen biosynthesis; cell proliferation is decreased although cell hypertrophy occurs. Procollagen gene transcription rate is stimulated and this response contributes to the observed increase in procollagen mRNA content. Activation of an enhancer sequence may be one possible mode through which high glucose levels increase the transcription of procollagen type I, presumably involving trans-acting factor(s).