The renal glomerulus is composed of three types of glomerular cells (mesangial cell (MC), endothelial cell and podocyte) and extracellular matrix (ECM) consisting of the glomerular basement membrane (GBM) and mesangial matrix. It constitutes ahighly specialized microcirculation in which the permeability characteristics of the capillary wall allow its unique filtrationfunction.Theproliferationof...

The concept that some forms of proteinuria may be induced by the action of circulating systemic permeability factors on the glomerular capillary wall is intriguing. First proposed in the 1970s in the context of steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome, the immune system was proposed as a source of such a vascular permeability factor (VPF). More recently, some forms of focal segmental glomerular scl...

Glomerular capillary filtration barrier characteristics are determined in part by the slit-pore junctions of glomerular podocytes. Protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor-O (PTPro) is a transmembrane protein expressed on the apical surface of podocyte foot processes. Tyrosine phosphorylation of podocyte proteins including nephrin may control the filtration barrier. To determine whether PTPro acti...

Plasma filtration through glomerular filtration barrier (GFB) is a key process to maintain fluid and electrolyte homeostasis. GFB consisting of endothelial cells, podocytes and basement membrane restricts passage of albumin but is permeable for smaller plasma molecules. Various biological agents, such as extracellular nucleotides influence activity of cells, which in turn affects permeability o...

Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) can cause loss of tight junctions, which in glomeruli are associated with albuminuria. Here we evaluated the role of EndMT in the development of albuminuria in diabetic nephropathy (DN). We demonstrated that EndMT occurs in the glomerular endothelium of patients with DN, showing by a decrease in CD31 but an increase in α-SMA expression. In glomeruli...

The view is wildly held currently that renal proteinuria is primarily the results of increased permeability of glomerular capillary membrane(1,2,3,4). The purpose of this paper is to study the passway of high molecular substance through the glomerular capillary membrane and the permeability of that membrane in renal diseases. This study was not so easy, because urinary protein contents, which w...

Microalbuminuria is an early manifestation of diabetic nephropathy. Potential contributors to this condition are reduced glomerular filtration barrier (GFB) size- and charge selectivity, and impaired tubular reabsorption of filtered proteins. However, it was recently reported that no significant alterations in charge selectivity of the GFB occur in early experimental diabetic nephropathy. We he...