Supplementary Material for: Generating Conditionally Immortalised Podocyte Cell Lines from Wild-Type Mice

Background: Understanding podocyte biology is key to
deciphering the pathogenesis of numerous glomerular diseases. However,
cultivation of primary podocytes results in de-differentiation with loss
of specialised architecture. Human conditionally immortalised podocytes
partly overcome this problem, utilising a temperature-sensitive
transgene. Conditionally immortalised murine podocytes exist, but are
derived from the Immortomouse. Methods: Using retroviral
temperature-sensitive SV40 transfection, we created a conditionally
immortalised podocyte cell line from wild-type mice. Results:
These cells develop characteristic mature podocyte morphology and
robustly express slit diaphragm proteins. Functionally, these cells
demonstrate comparable responses in motility and glucose uptake to human
conditionally immortalised podocytes. Conclusion:
Podocyte-specific transgenic mice are extensively used to study
glomerular disease and this technique could be used to make podocyte
cell lines from any mouse, allowing study at the cellular level. This
will help characterise these disease models and add to the laboratory
resources used to study podocytopathies and glomerular disease.