Lipid rafts are required for signal transduction by angiotensin II receptor type 1 in neonatal glomerular mesangial cells

• AGTR1 is the functional AGTR subtype expressed in neonatal mesangial cells.
• Endogenous AGTR1 associates with CAV-1 in neonatal mesangial cells.
• Lipid raft disruption attenuates cell surface AGTR1 protein expression.
• Lipid raft disruption reduces ANG-II-induced [Ca2+]i elevation in neonatal mesangial cells.
• Lipid raft disruption inhibits ANG-II-induced neonatal mesangial cell growth.

Angiotensin II (ANG-II) receptors (AGTRs) contribute to renal physiology and pathophysiology, but the underlying mechanisms that regulate AGTR function in glomerular mesangium are poorly understood. Here, we show that AGTR1 is the functional AGTR subtype expressed in neonatal pig glomerular mesangial cells (GMCs). Cyclodextrin (CDX)-mediated cholesterol depletion attenuated cell surface AGTR1 protein expression and ANG-II-induced intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) elevation in the cells. The COOH-terminus of porcine AGTR1 contains a caveolin (CAV)-binding motif. However, neonatal GMCs express CAV-1, but not CAV-2 and CAV-3. Colocalization and in situ proximity ligation assay detected an association between endogenous AGTR1 and CAV-1 in the cells. A synthetic peptide corresponding to the CAV-1 scaffolding domain (CSD) sequence also reduced ANG-II-induced [Ca2+]i elevation in the cells. Real-time imaging of cell growth revealed that ANG-II stimulates neonatal GMC proliferation. ANG-II-induced GMC growth was attenuated by EMD 66684, an AGTR1 antagonist; BAPTA, a [Ca2+]i chelator; KN-93, a Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II inhibitor; CDX; and a CSD peptide, but not PD 123319, a selective AGTR2 antagonist. Collectively, our data demonstrate [Ca2+]i-dependent proliferative effect of ANG-II and highlight a critical role for lipid raft microdomains in AGTR1-mediated signal transduction in neonatal GMCs.