Fig. 7.
Effect of tolvaptan on in vitro cyst growth of ADPKD cells cultured within collagen gel. ADPKD cells were seeded within a collagen gel and media containing 5 μM forskolin and 5 ng/ml EGF were added for 3 days to initiate cyst formation. Agonists were removed and gels were incubated with control media or media containing 10−8 M AVP ± 10−8 M tolvapatan for 5–7 days. Total surface area (SA) of cysts (≥100 μm) per well was measured. AVP increased total SA of the cysts, demonstrating that AVP accelerates cyst growth in vitro, and tolvaptan significantly inhibited AVP-induced cyst formation. *P < 0.01 compared with control. #P < 0.05 compared with AVP alone.