BACKGROUNDMesangial hypercellularity is a critical early histopathological finding in human and experimental glomerular diseases. Hyperlipidemia and the glomerular deposition of lipoproteins are commonly associated with mesangial hypercellularity and play an important pathobiological role in the development of glomerular diseases. The activated cytoplasmic mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), including mainly extracellular-signal regulated protein kinase (ERK), c-Jun amino-terminal kinase (JNK), and p38, has been thought to translocate into the nucleus and activate various transcription factors and protooncogenes associated with cell growth and proliferation. Lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)) has been shown to stimulate proliferation of mesangial cells, but the events of Lp(a) signaling have not yet been characterized. The purpose of this study was to investigate the signal transduction pathways involved in Lp(a)-induced cell proliferation and provide an evidence for the participation of Lp(a) in intracellular signaling pathways for mesangial cell proliferation.

METHODSLp(a) was isolated from a patient who was being treated with low density lipoprotein (LDL)-apheresis by density gradient ultracentrifugation and then chromatography. Human mesangial cells (HMCs) were isolated by the sequential sieving technique and stimulated with Lp(a) in different concentration and time course. The DNA synthesis of the cells was measured by [3H] thymidine incorporation for detecting the proliferation. The expression of all the three members of MAPK family, including ERK1/ERK2, JNK, and p38, and their phosphorylation were detected by Western blotting.

RESULTSLp(a) could induce a significant dose-dependent proliferation of HMCs. The 3H-TdR incorporation was 1.64+/-0.31, 1.69+/-0.48, 3.59+/-0.68 (P<0.01), 4.14+/-0.78 (P<0.01), and 4.05+/-0.55 (P<0.01) (10(3) cpm) at the Lp(a) concentration of 0, 5, 10, 25, and 50 microg/ml, respectively. Lp(a) induced an increase in ERK1/ERK2 phosphorylation between 5 and 60 minutes, and in JNK phosphorylation between 15 and 30 minutes after incubating with HMCs, whereas the level of p38 and its phosphorylation was not changed.

CONCLUSIONSLp(a) could stimulate the proliferation of HMCs by activiating the phosphorylation of ERK1/ERK2 and JNK MAPK signaling pathway, whereas p38 pathway had no effect on the Lp(a)-induced HMC proliferation, which indicated that three MAPKs seem to be distinctly involved in the effect. In particular, it also provides the evidence that Lp(a) may act as one of the major endogenous modulators for mitogenic signaling response and cell proliferation within the glomerulus.