The Glomerular Polyanion (GPA) of the Rat Kidney

Abstract

Rat peritoneal exudate cells (PEC) or human peripheral blood cells stimulated with mitogens in vitro were cultured in tissue culture chambers mounted on rat or human cryostat kidney sections. After 20 h, the cultures were discontinued and the glomerular polyanion (GPA) of the glomeruli was studied using the colloidal iron stain. The results show that in contrast to PHA-stimulated cells, rat PEC or human blood cells stimulated with Con-A are able to reduce GPA stainability. It was further shown that rat PEC activated with Con-A for 20 or 48 h were able to suppress in vitro lymphocyte transformation of syngeneic blood lymphocytes in a co-culture system following mitogenic stimulation. In view of recent concepts according to which disturbance of T cell function is associated with in vivo loss of GPA in some forms of the nephrotic state, we conclude that investigation into the possible in vivo significance of the present observations is worthwhile.