Reactive oxygen production by cultured rat glomerular mesangial cells during phagocytosis is associated with stimulation of lipoxygenase activity

To investigate the phagocytic capability of glomerular mesangial cells and the biochemical events associated with phagocytosis, rat cultured mesangial cells were incubated in the presence of opsonized zymosan (STZ) and production of reactive-oxygen species and lipoxygenase products were determined. Mesangial cells were identified on the basis of morphologic (presence of microfilaments and pattern of staining by an anti-myosin antiserum) and physiologic (contractile activity in response to angiotensin II) characteristics. No contamination by esterase-positive cells was observed. Electron microscopy revealed that the phagocytic process started after 5 min of incubation, and affected approximately 50% of the cells. Superoxide anion (.O2-) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) generation by mesangial cells exposed to STZ increased with time and STZ concentration. Cells incubated with zymosan particles treated with heated serum produced undetectable amounts of .O2- and 6 times less H2O2 than cells exposed to STZ. Pretreatment by cytochalasin B produced a marked decrease in STZ-stimulated production of reactive oxygen species. [3H]Arachidonic acid was incorporated into mesangial cell phospholipids and its release and conversion into monohydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids (HETE) was measured by radiometric high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Incubation with STZ markedly stimulated the release of arachidonic acid from its phospholipid stores and its transformation into 11-, 12-, and 15-HETE. Lipoxygenase inhibitors inhibited STZ-stimulated H2O2 production, whereas they did not modify the phagocytic process as shown by the absence of any effect on the uptake of 125I-STZ by the mesangial cells. This study demonstrates that a high percentage of rat cultured mesangial cells phagocytose opsonized particles. The phagocytic process results in an oxidative burst that appears to be dependent on stimulation of the lipoxygenase pathway.