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Podocyte biology

Differentiation of parietal epithelial cells into podocytes

Nature Reviews Nephrology volume 11, pages 7–8 (2015)Cite this article

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A new study demonstrates that knockdown of miR-193a in human parietal epithelial cells induces their differentiation into podocytes. Inhibition of miR-193a in a model of nephrotoxic nephritis resulted in reduced proteinuria and crescent formation. These data suggest that promoting differentiation of parietal progenitors into podocytes has potential therapeutic relevance.

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Figure 1: Generation of human podocytes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Excellence Centre for Research, Transfer and High Education for the Development of De Novo Therapies (DENOTHE), University of Florence, Viale Pieraccini 6, Florence, 50139, Italy

    Elena Lazzeri

  2. Paediatric Nephrology Unit, Meyer Children's Hospital, Florence, Viale Pieraccini 24, Florence, 50141, Italy

    Paola Romagnani

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  1. Elena Lazzeri
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  2. Paola Romagnani
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Correspondence to Paola Romagnani.

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Competing interests

E. L. and P. R. are authors of patents (patent numbers: PCT/EP2007/054132 and F12013A000303) regarding the generation of human renal progenitor cultures using EGM and methodology to prepare human renal progenitor cultures from the urine of patients that are property of the University of Florence as well as of the public paediatric Meyer Children's Hospital.

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Lazzeri, E., Romagnani, P. Differentiation of parietal epithelial cells into podocytes. Nat Rev Nephrol 11, 7–8 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneph.2014.218

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