A Conditionally Immortalized Human Podocyte Cell Line Demonstrating Nephrin and Podocin Expression

Recent molecular insights have established the podocyte as a key component of the glomerular filtration barrier, and hence an important common pathway in proteinuric diseases. A conditionally immortalized human podocyte cell line has been developed by transfection with the temperature-sensitive SV40-T gene. These cells proliferate at the "permissive" temperature (33 degrees C). After transfer to the "nonpermissive" temperature (37 degrees C), they entered growth arrest and expressed markers of differentiated in vivo podocytes, including the novel podocyte proteins, nephrin, podocin, CD2AP, and synaptopodin, and known molecules of the slit diaphragm ZO-1, alpha-, beta-, and gamma-catenin and P-cadherin. The…