Renin activity was measured in the incubation medium, and the cellular extract of human mesangial cells, which had been cultured in the presence of renin-free human plasma (three kidneys; 4-7 passages). Active renin and total renin obtained after trypsin treatment was estimated by radioimmunoassay of angiotensin I using renin-free human plasma as a substrate. Mesangial cell renin had characteristics similar to those of standard human renin; optimum enzymatic activity at pH 5.8, marked inhibition in the presence of two (monoclonal and polyclonal) human renin-specific antibodies and of SR 42128, a new potent statine-containing renin inhibitory peptide. The synthetic capability of the mesangial cells varied markedly with the original kidney (1-49 and 0.3-0.9 ng X h-1 X mg-1 for total renin in the medium and the cellular extract respectively). Renin was secreted mainly as inactive renin. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and carba-prostaglandin I2 (PGI2) (a stable analogue) produced a dose-dependent (0.1-1.10 microM) increase in renin activity in both the cellular extract and the culture medium. Isoproterenol (200 microM) increased renin activity only in the medium. The effects of these agonists were more marked on inactive than on active renin. These results demonstrate that cultured human mesangial cells synthesize and release renin in a stable manner over a long period of culture, thus providing a useful tool for the in vitro study of renin secretion and its control.