Stimulation of proximal tubule cell (PTC) growth in a variety of physiological and pathological renal conditions is preceded by increased renal production of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) and by augmented tubular sodium transport via activated sodium hydrogen exchange (NHE). Since TGF-beta 1 has been shown to be an important paracrine and autocrine regulator of PTC growth, the hypothesis that TGF-beta 1 modulates basal and mitogen-stimulated PTC growth via an effect on NHE activity was examined. Confluent, quiescent, human PTC were incubated for 24 hours in serum-free media containing vehicle (control) or 1 ng/ml TGF-beta 1, in the presence or absence of 100 ng/ml insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-I). Under basal conditions, TGF-beta 1 inhibited thymidine incorporation (73.5 +/- 7.3% of control, P < 0.05), but exerted no effect on cellular protein content (97.4 +/- 10.7% of control), an index of hypertrophy. There was no significant alteration of NHE activity, measured as ethylisopropylamiloride (EIPA)-sensitive H+ efflux (2.72 +/- 0.50 vs. control 3.26 +/- 0.68 mmol/liter/min) or 22Na+ influx (2.20 +/- 0.23 vs. control 2.19 +/- 0.19 nmol/mg protein/min). When co-incubated with IGF-I. TGF-beta 1 induced significant PTC hypertrophy (116.9 +/- 8.2% of control, P < 0.05), which was not seen with either agent alone. TGF-beta 1 counteracted the stimulatory effect of IGF-I on DNA synthesis (TGF-beta 1 + IGF-I 103.0 +/- 7.3% vs. IGF-I alone 181.2 +/- 30.3% of control, P < 0.05), but did not affect IGF-I-stimulated EIPA-sensitive 22Na+ influx (3.63 +/- 0.63 vs. IGF-I alone 3.67 +/- 0.50 nmol/mg protein/min, P = NS, both vs. control 2.19 +/- 0.19 nmol/mg protein/min, P < 0.05). Similar results were obtained when NHE activity was measured as EIPA-sensitive H+ efflux. Moreover, the kinetics of NHE activation by the combination of TGF-beta 1 and IGF-I (involving an increase in Vmax) were identical to that previously found for PTC exposed to IGF-I alone. The study demonstrates that TGF-beta 1 elicits distinct PTC growth responses in the presence and absence of IGF-I, without modification of NHE activity. The combination of predominant PTC hypertrophy and enhanced proximal tubule Na+ reabsorption found in many conditions that are associated with renal growth is likely to require the integrated actions of both TGF-beta 1 and IGF-I.
