A cultured human renal epithelioid cell line responsive to vasoactive intestinal peptide.

A permanently transformed cell line derived from human embryo renal cortical cells (HEK293) has been investigated for the retention of renal-specific properties. The cell line is epithelioid in growth on plastic, and transmission electron microscopy demonstrates the formation of apical zonae occludentes. There is no prominent brush-border. The response of HEK293 cell adenylate cyclase is noteworthy for the response to vasoactive intestinal peptide (half-maximal activation at 0.9 nM). The HEK adenylate cyclase response to VIP is specific, with related peptides such as glucagon and secretin being ineffective. The response to VIP is competitively antagonized by the VIP receptor antagonist (4Cl-D-Phe6,Leu17)-VIP.