Binding of Calcium Oxalate and Apatite Crystals to Renal Papillary Collecting Tubule Cells in Primary Culture

Abstract

The attachment of microcrystallites within the renal papilla may be an important component of the pathophysiology of urolithiasis (1–3). The current study utilizes rat inner-papillary collecting tubule (RPCT) cells in primary culture to investigate how calcium oxalate monohydrate (CaOx) and apatite (AP) crystals interact with cell surfaces. We previously reported (4, 5) an increased CaOx crystal adherence to aggregated cells as compared to monolayer cells in the RPCT cell cultures. Also, we demonstrated the specificity of CaOx adherence to these cultures and developed a mathematical model to analyze the concentration-dependent binding of microcrystallites to the RPCT cells (5). This study is a continuation of our previous study (5) examining the concentration-dependent binding of CaOx and AP microcrystallites to the RPCT cells, and compares the binding of these two crystalline moieties in greater detail.