Comparative protein profiling of wild type and zyxin knockout podocytes

Podocyte detachment due to mechanical stress is a common issue in hypertension-induced kidney disease. The present study investigated the role of zyxin in mechanically stretched podocytes, a model for glomerular hypertension. Conditionally immortalized differentiated podocytes were seeded on flexible silicon membranes of a six well plate, which was mounted on a manifold connected to a custom-built stretch apparatus (NIPOKA GmbH, Greifswald, Germany), which induced cyclic pressure variations resulting in upward and downward motion of the silicone membranes. We found that zyxin is essential for the adhesion of the postmitotic cell type, the podocytes, in vitro during mechanical stretch as well as in vivo for the maintenance of the kidney filtration.