An IRKO in the Podo: impaired insulin signaling in podocytes and the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy.
Despite its high prevalence, the mechanisms causing diabetic kidney disease remain poorly understood. In this issue of Cell Metabolism, Welsh et al. (2010) show that elimination of insulin receptors from the glomerular podocyte, a cell that is central to the pathogenesis of proteinuric renal diseases, recapitulates many features of human diabetic nephropathy.
Gurley
Susan B
SB
Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Duke University and Durham VA Medical Centers, Durham, NC 27705, USA.
Coffman
Thomas M
TM
Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Duke University and Durham VA Medical Centers, Durham, NC 27705, USA; Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders Unit, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore 6516 7666, Singapore. Electronic address: tcoffman@duke.edu.