Calcium oxalate crystal attachment to cultured kidney epithelial cell lines.

PURPOSE: Cultured kidney epithelial cell lines have frequently been used in urolithiasis research, and in particular in studies related to the interactions between stone crystals and cell membranes. There is evidence that when epithelial cell lines are transformed or serially passed to immortalize them, they experience changes in both cell physiology and morphology. Stone research utilizing cell cultures is frequently necessary due to the lack of an animal model for spontaneous stone disease. However, the interpretation of these cell culture research studies might be clouded by any significant differences in cell physiology between primary cells and continuous cell cultures. Therefore, the present study was conducted to compare calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) crystal attachment to two primary kidney epithelial cell lines and to various continuous cell lines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cell lines surveyed were primary mouse proximal tubule cells (pMPT), primary inner medullary collecting duct cells (pIMCD), semi-continuous inner medullary collecting duct cells (cIMCD), BSC-1 cells, COS-1 cells, LLC-PK1 cells, MDCK cells, NRK-52E cells, and OK cells. All cell lines were cultured under identical conditions and the amount of COM attachment was measured using radioactive labeled COM crystals. RESULTS: COM crystal interaction with continuous kidney epithelial cells varied by a factor of two among the different cell lines. In general, cells that grew as regular, confluent cell monolayers, such as pMPT, pIMCD and cIMCD cells, exhibited the lowest levels of crystal attachment. Neither changes in membrane fluidity nor loss of normal epithelial cell membrane asymmetry seemed to correlate well with crystal attachment. After nine days of continuous cell culture, COM attachment to cIMCD cells dropped by 61 percent while crystal attachment to MDCK cells remained unchanged. It is unclear what makes these cell lines more resistant to crystal attachment compared to continuous cell lines. CONCLUSIONS: The significant difference in COM attachment between primary kidney epithelial cells and continuous epithelial cell cultures and the apparent differences in growth morphology between primary and continuous cell cultures must be considered when selecting a cell line for use in kidney stone research. Comparison of cIMCD cells and MDCK cells during extended culture time revealed one possible explanation for the differences in COM attachment: the formation of a mature, end-differentiated, non-dividing cell monolayer could protect the cells from crystal attachment.

The dependence on membrane fluidity of calcium oxalate crystal attachment to IMCD membranes.

The development of urolithiasis is a multifaceted process, starting with urine supersaturation and ending with the formation of mature renal calculi. The retention of microcrystals by kidney tubule epithelium cell membranes has been proposed as a critical event in the process. To date, attachment of kidney stone constituent crystals to urothelial cells has been demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo yet the mechanism of crystal attachment remains unknown. We hypothesize that for effective stone crystal attachment to the epithelium there must be cell membrane rearrangement that would allow for long-range bonding between the stone crystal and the cell membrane. This rearrangement may be influenced by the physical state of the membrane. The current study examines calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) crystal attachment to inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD) cells following changes in cell membrane fluidity. Radioactively labeled COM crystals were used to quantitate crystal attachment. Membrane fluidity was altered by changing temperature, cell membrane cholesterol content, or extended length of cell culture. Crystal attachment to IMCD cells was directly correlated to changes in membrane fluidity. This finding was consistently observed regardless of the method used to alter membrane fluidity. The results are consistent with the theory that the ability to form a crystal attachment region on the cell surface may be related to the ease of rearrangement of membrane components at the cell surface. Variations in the urothelial cell environment during certain pathological conditions in the kidney could induce these physical perturbations and prime kidney epithelial cells at or near the papillary tip to bind COM crystals.

Surface exposure of phosphatidylserine increases calcium oxalate crystal attachment to IMCD cells.

The development of urolithiasis is a multifaceted process, starting at urine supersaturation and ending with the formation of mature renal calculi. The retention of microcrystals by the urothelial cell membrane is a critical event in the process. The current study examines calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) crystal attachment to inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD) cells following selective changes in cell membrane phospholipid composition. Both primary culture of IMCD cells and a continuous IMCD cell line were used for these studies. Cell membrane composition was selectively altered by either exogenous addition of membrane phospholipids or using membrane lipid scrambling agents. Enrichment with anionic phospholipids was found to greatly increase attachment of crystals to the cells. This increased attachment correlated with the exposure of phosphatidylserine (PS) on the exofacial leaflet of the cell membrane as demonstrated by the use of the membrane scrambling agent A-23187. Furthermore, the increased COM attachment following PS exposure could be blocked by incubating the cells with the PS-specific binding protein, annexin V. These results support the hypothesis that exposure of PS head groups on the papillary epithelial cell surface may mediate stone crystal attachment to the kidney tubule cell epithelium in the renal papilla, possibly as an initiating event in urolithiasis.

Calcium oxalate-crystal membrane interactions: dependence on membrane lipid composition.

PURPOSE: Urolithiasis is clearly a multifaceted process, progressing from urine supersaturation to the formation of mature renal calculi. Retention of microcrystals by the urothelium is a critical event in stone maturation. Membrane phospholipids appear to be involved in the attachment of stone crystals to kidney epithelium. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The current study quantitates crystal-membrane interactions following selective changes in the red blood cell (RBC) membrane phospholipid composition by using a crystal-induced membranolytic assay. RESULTS: Membrane enrichment with anionic phospholipids was found to greatly increase crystal-membrane interactions. Crystal-membrane interaction was associated with an increase in the negative charge on the RBC membrane surface. CONCLUSIONS: Specific membrane compositions seem to facilitate the formation of crystal attachment region on the RBC surface that is necessary for effective crystal attachment to the cell membrane.