title: Dexamethasone accelerates differentiation of A6 epithelia and increases response to vasopressin.
abstract: When seeded heavily on a porous tissue culture dish, A6 cells, derived from the kidney of Xenopus laevis, form a highly differentiated epithelium within 4-6 days. When dexamethasone is added to the culture medium, morphological differentiation is completed by day 2, a time at which the control (untreated) is still a disorganized multilayer of cells. In addition to the morphologically evident monolayer of cuboidal cells, the accelerated differentiation is expressed as high transepithelial electrical resistance, short-circuit current, and adenylate cyclase response to vasopressin. When grown on impermeable plastic tissue culture dishes, A6 epithelia are less differentiated and do not respond to vasopressin. With the addition of dexamethasone at the time of seeding on a plastic tissue culture dish, vasopressin responsive adenylate cyclase activity is expressed, albeit at a slower rate than when grown on a porous surface. In addition, dexamethasone treatment of mature epithelia grown on a porous surface results, in hours, in an increase in the adenylate cyclase response to vasopressin. These results reveal two previously unrecognized interactions between adrenal steroid hormones and vasopressin, namely, accelerated differentiation and increased responsiveness of adenylate cyclase.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Kidney and Electrolyte Metabolism, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Preston
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Handler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects*; D002460:Cell Line; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004357:Drug Synergism; D004847:Epithelial Cells; D004848:Epithelium / Q000187:drug effects; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007668:Kidney / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D013268:Stimulation, Chemical; D014667:Vasopressins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014982:Xenopus laevis
chemical_list: D014667:Vasopressins; D003907:Dexamethasone