Nephrin Preserves Podocyte Viability and Glomerular Structure and Function in Adult Kidneys.

ABSTRACT: Nephrin is required during kidney development for the maturation of podocytes and formation of the slit diaphragm junctional complex. Because nephrin expression is downregulated in acquired glomerular diseases, nephrin deficiency is considered a pathologic feature of glomerular injury. However, whether nephrin deficiency exacerbates glomerular injury in glomerular diseases has not been experimentally confirmed. Here, we generated mice with inducible RNA interference-mediated nephrin knockdown. Short-term nephrin knockdown (6 weeks), starting after the completion of kidney development at 5 weeks of age, did not affect glomerular structure or function. In contrast, mice with long-term nephrin knockdown (20 weeks) developed mild proteinuria, foot process effacement, filtration slit narrowing,

SUBMITTER: Li X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4587684 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature