Mechanisms of renal tubular cell hypertrophy: mitogen-induced suppression of proteolysis.

The combination of epidermal growth factor (EGF) plus transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) causes hypertrophy in renal epithelial cells. One mechanism contributing to hypertrophy is that EGF induces activation of the cell cycle and increases protein synthesis, whereas TGF-beta 1 prevents cell division, thereby converting hyperplasia to hypertrophy. To assess whether suppression of proteolysis is another mechanism causing hypertrophy induced by these growth factors, we measured protein degradation in primary cultures of proximal tubule cells and in cultured NRK-52E kidney cells. A concentration of 10(-8) M EGF alone or EGF plus 10(-10) M TGF-beta 1 decreased proteolysis by approximately 30%. TGF-beta 1 alone did not change protein degradation. Using inhibitors, we examined which proteolytic pathway is suppressed. Neither proteasome nor calpain inhibitors prevented the antiproteolytic response to EGF + TGF-beta 1. Inhibitors of lysosomal proteases eliminated the antiproteolytic response to EGF + TGF-beta 1, suggesting that these growth factors act to suppress lysosomal proteolysis. This antiproteolytic response was not caused by impaired EGF receptor signaling, since lysosomal inhibitors did not block EGF-induced protein synthesis. We conclude that suppression of lysosomal proteolysis contributes to growth factor-mediated hypertrophy of cultured kidney cells.