Foxc1 and Foxc2 are necessary to maintain glomerular podocytes

Foxc1 and Foxc2 are highly expressed in adult podocytes. To bypass embryonic lethality of Foxc1 and Foxc2 KO, mice ubiquitously expressing inducible-Cre (ROSA26-CreERT2) were mated with floxed-Foxc1 and floxed-Foxc2 mice. We used microarrays to detail effects of deletions of Foxc1 and Foxc2 on podocyte gene expression profiles in adult podocyte in vivo and in vitro. The CreERT2 was activated in adult mice by administrations of tamoxifen. Isolated glomeruli were subjected to total RNA preparation. Altanatively, primaly cultured podocytes were treated with the active form of tamoxifen and total RNA was prepared on 4 or 7 days after the treatment.