Establishment of permanent renal tubule cell lines by infection with the wild-type and a thermosensitive mutant of the simian virus 40.

This study summarizes the properties of rabbit renal tubule cell lines transformed by the simian virus 40 (SV40). By infection with the wild type SV40, it was possible to establish three different cell lines exhibiting the main functions of proximal (RC.SV1), thick ascending limb-distal (RC.SV2), and collecting (RC.SV3) tubules. Another cell line infected with a thermosensitive mutant of SV40 (RC.SVtsA58) was highly sensitive to arginine vasopressin when cells were cultured at the restrictive temperature of 39.5 degrees C, suggesting they derived from principal cells of the collecting tubule.