Abstract
Parietal epithelial cells (PECs) are epithelial cells in the kidney, surrounding Bowman's space. When activated, PECs increase in cell volume, proliferate, migrate to the glomerular tuft and excrete extracellular matrix. Activated PECs are crucially involved in the formation of sclerotic lesions, seen in focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). In FSGS, a number of glomeruli show segmental sclerotic lesions. Further disease progression will lead to increasing number of involved glomeruli and gradual destruction of the affected glomeruli. Although the involvement of PECs in FSGS has been acknowledged, little is known about the molecular processes driving PEC activation. To get more insights in this process, accurate in vivo and in vitro models are needed. Here, we describe the development and characterization of a novel conditionally immortalized human PEC (ciPEC) line. We demonstrated that ciPECs are differentiated when grown under growth-restrictive conditions and express important PEC-specific markers, while lacking podocyte and endothelial markers. In addition, ciPECs showed PEC-like morphology and responded to IL-1β treatment. We therefore conclude that we have successfully generated a novel PEC line, which can be used for future studies on the role of PECs in FSGS.
Highlights
Parietal epithelial cells (PECs) are epithelial cells in the kidney that form a monolayer on the parietal basement membrane, together creating Bowman’s capsule surrounding the glomerular tuft
The cells were immor talized with SV40 large T antigen (SV40T) and the catalytic subunit of human telomerase and successful transduction was confirmed by selection with hygromycin B and geneticin (G418)
In this study we describe the successful development of a novel human conditionally immortalized parietal epithelial cell line
Summary
Parietal epithelial cells (PECs) are epithelial cells in the kidney that form a monolayer on the parietal basement membrane, together creating Bowman’s capsule surrounding the glomerular tuft. The knowledge about the role of PECs in the kidney has expanded extensively. To their physiological function as a barrier to the urinary filtrate, their involvement in glomerulosclerosis has been described and discussed elaborately [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. PECs are crucially involved in focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a common histological pattern of glomerular injury in progressive kidney disease that is char acterized by segmental scarring of some but not all glomeruli in the kidneys. FSGS is not a disease, but a pattern of injury with many underlying causes that can lead to kidney failure [9].
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