End stage renal disease (ESRD) kidneys display abnormal growth characterized by a continuum of cystic disease, adenoma and carcinoma. This study evaluates the hypothesis that serum of patients with ESRD contains increased amounts of a growth factor which specifically induces proliferation of renal cells. ESRD sera compared to sera from normal controls induced a two to three-fold increase in the proliferative rate of renal cell carcinoma cell lines and normal kidney explants compared to cell lines from other sites. The increased proliferative activity of ESRD sera on renal cells was paralleled by an increase in cytosolic free calcium. The growth factor activity was encoded by a polypeptide of between 15 and 30 kd. The activity of ESRD sera on renal cells was not mimicked or inhibited by epidermal growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor and platelet derived growth factor indicating that the renal cell specific growth factor activity in ESRD is different from these factors.