Using Drosophila Nephrocytes to Understand the Formation and Maintenance of the Podocyte Slit Diaphragm

The podocyte slit diaphragm (SD) is an essential component of the glomerular filtration barrier and its disruption is a common cause of proteinuria and many types of kidney disease. Therefore, better understanding of the pathways and proteins that play key roles in SD formation and maintenance has b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in cell and developmental biology 2022-02, Vol.10, p.837828
Main Authors: van de Leemput, Joyce, Wen, Pei, Han, Zhe
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
apical-basal polarity
Cell and Developmental Biology
cytoskeleton
Drosophila nephrocytes
kidney
mammalian podocytes
slit diaphragm
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Summary:The podocyte slit diaphragm (SD) is an essential component of the glomerular filtration barrier and its disruption is a common cause of proteinuria and many types of kidney disease. Therefore, better understanding of the pathways and proteins that play key roles in SD formation and maintenance has been of great interest. Podocyte and SD biology have been mainly studied using mouse and other vertebrate models. However, vertebrates are limited by inherent properties and technically challenging access to the podocytes. is a relatively new alternative model system but it has already made great strides. Past the initial obvious differences, mammalian podocytes and fly nephrocytes are remarkably similar at the genetic, molecular and functional levels. This review discusses SD formation and maintenance, and their dependence on cell polarity, the cytoskeleton, and endo- and exocytosis, as learned from studies in fly nephrocytes and mammalian podocytes. In addition, it reflects on the remaining gaps in our knowledge, the physiological implications for glomerular diseases and how we can leverage the advantages has to offer to further our understanding.
ISSN:2296-634X
2296-634X
DOI:10.3389/fcell.2022.837828