Comparison of extracellular ATP and UTP signalling in rat renal mesangial cells. No indications for the involvement of separate purino- and pyrimidino-ceptors.

Extracellular ATP and UTP caused a rapid formation of InsP3, with similar kinetics and dose-dependences. ITP also displayed strong agonistic properties in terms of InsP3 production, whereas CTP was almost inactive. Pretreatment of the cells with pertussis toxin attenuated ATP- and UTP-stimulated InsP3 generation to a comparable extent, indicating that both nucleotides couple to phospholipase C by a pertussis-toxin-sensitive G-protein. Short-term (15 min) treatment of the cells with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) produced a dose-dependent inhibition of ATP- and UTP-induced InsP3 formation. Furthermore, down-regulation of protein kinase C by long-term (24 h) exposure of the cells to PMA resulted in a comparable potentiation of phosphoinositide hydrolysis by both nucleotides. Preincubation of mesangial cells with ATP or UTP caused a pronounced cross-desensitization of subsequent nucleotide-stimulated InsP3 production. ATP and UTP displayed no additivity in terms of InsP3 formation, when used at maximally effective concentrations. In contrast, the peptide hormone angiotensin II interacted in an additive manner with either nucleotide in stimulating phosphoinositide hydrolysis. Reactive Blue 2, a putative P2y-purinoceptor antagonist, caused a rightward shift of both the ATP and UTP dose-response curves. However, since 2-methylthio-ATP was only a partial agonist in stimulating InsP3 formation, the mesangial-cell ATP receptor appears to be different from a classic P2y-receptor. In summary, these results provide no evidence for separate purino- and pyrimidino-ceptors on mesangial cells. In contrast, ATP and UTP may use a common nucleotide receptor for transducing their signals in mesangial cells.