Insulin and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) may play a role in the regulation of sodium balance by increasing basal and aldosterone-stimulated transepithelial sodium transport in the aldosterone-sensitive distal nephron (ASDN). As insulin and IGF-1 are capable of binding to each other's receptor with a 50- to 100-fold lower affinity than to their cognate receptor, it is not clear which receptor mediates its respective sodium transport response in the ASDN. The aim of the present study was to characterize the IGF-1 regulation of Na(+) transport in the mCCD(cl1) cell line, a highly differentiated cell line which responds to physiological concentrations (K(1/2)=0.3 nM) of aldosterone. IGF-1 increased basal transepithelial Na(+) transport with a K(1/2) of 0.41+/-0.07 nM. Insulin dose-response curve was displaced to the right 50-fold, as compared to that of IGF-1 (K(1/2)=20.0+/-3.0 nM), indicating that it acts through the IGF type 1 receptor (IGF-1R). Co-stimulation with IGF-1 (0.3 nM) (or 30 nM insulin) and aldosterone (0.3 nM), either simultaneously or by pretreating the cells for 5 h with aldosterone, induced an additive response. The phosphatidylinositol-3' kinase (PI3-K) inhibitor LY294002 completely blocked IGF-1 and aldosterone induced and co-induced currents. As assessed by Western blotting, protein levels of the serum-, and glucocorticoid-induced kinase (Sgk1) were directly and proportionally related to the current induced by either or both IGF-1 and aldosterone, effects also blocked by the PI3-K inhibitor LY294002. IGF-1 could play an important physiological role in regulating basal sodium transport via the PI3-K/Sgk1 pathway in ASDN.