Abstract
Podocyturia may be an expression of glomerular disease and is evaluated using urinary podocyte-specific molecules. This article discusses the technical problems of detection and quantification of podocyturia using immunofluorescent staining of specific proteins, urinary podocyte culture, flow cytometry and urinary podocyte-specific molecules (including PCR, immunoblotting and ELISA). Technical problems mean that it is still impossible to define a biomarker for urinary podocyte injury. This article also discusses the future perspectives for podocyturia studies, including fluorescence-activated cell sorting and the study of the proteome of urinary exosomes.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The author has no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.
Notes
ATF3: Activating transcription factor 3; CD2AP: CD 2-associated protein; GLEPP-1: Glomerular epithelial protein-1; MAP-LC3: Microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3; pp44: Podocyte protein 44-kDa; WT-1: Wilms tumor-1; ZO-1: Zonula occludens-1.