Effects of uremic serum on the proliferation and trans-differentiation of human renal tubular epithelial cells

AIM: To explore the effects of uremic serum on proliferation and trans-differentiation of human renal tubular epithelial cells. METHODS: Human renal tubular epithelial cell line (HK-2) was cultured in RPMI-1640 medium. The proliferation effects of uremic serum at different concentrations were evaluated by methylene blue assay (MTT method) and flow cytometry. The positive cells percentage of α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA)in different concentration uremic serum medium was also measured by flow cytometry in vitro. RESULTS: Absorbance 490 (A₄₉₀) was increased in 5%-20% uremic serum groups compared with that in normal controls with the use of MTT. Cells in G₁ phase were decreased, but proliferation index (PI) was increased in 10%-20% uremic serum groups compared with that in normal controls with the use of flow cytometry. No significant difference of cell proliferation index was found among uremic serum groups. The positive percentage of α-SMA cells was increased significantly in uremic serum groups compared with that in normal controls, and increased in parallel with the increasing of uremic serum concentration. CONCLUSION:These data suggest that AGEs could induce a high expression of MIP-1αm RNA and protein in cultured HUVECs in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner.