Growth in vitro of cells from renal glomerulus. Difficulties in establishing long-term cultures of rat glomerular endothelium.

Rat glomeruli were isolated utilizing differential sieving technique. Establishment and maintenance of epithelial and mesangial cell lines originating from glomeruli were based upon their individual growth requirements and simple cloning procedures. Despite repeated passages cells retained their specific morphologic features in cultures for approximately six months. Our attempts to grow rat glomerular endothelial cells with use of the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), endothelial mitogen (EM), thrombin and fibroblast-conditioned medium ended in failure. Although occasionally endothelial-like cells were seen in glomerular outgrowths, we did not succeed in cloning and propagating them in subsequent passages. It is concluded that growth in vitro of each type of rat kidney glomerular cells is dependent on specific conditions and stimulants. Moreover, endothelial cells of rat renal tufts proved refractory to cultivation using methods reported effective with regard to other mammalian species.