Tubular shear stress and phenotype of renal proximal tubular cells.

Phenotypic alterations resulting from flow-induced mechanical strains is a growing field of research in many cell types such as vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells, chondrocytes, and osteocytes. Because renal mass reduction is followed by a dramatic increase in GFR in the remaining nephron, modulation of tubular cell phenotype by flow-induced mechanical strains could be one of the events initiating the deleterious pathways that lead to the destruction of renal parenchyma after renal mass reduction. This study demonstrates that increased flow induced, in vitro and in vivo, a reinforcement of the apical domain of actin cytoskeleton and an inhibition of plasminogen activator expression. These effects of flow on plasminogen activator expression were prevented by blocking the reorganization of actin cytoskeleton and were associated with an increase in a shear-stress responsive element binding activity. These results confirm that tubular flow affects the phenotype of renal epithelial cells and suggest that flow-induced mechanical strains could be one determinant of tubulointerstitial lesions during the progression of renal diseases.