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Proteinuria

Tubular handling of albumin—degradation or salvation?

In a recent study using transgenic mice with inducible podocyte-specific expression of tagged albumin, Tenten and colleagues report transtubular transport of albumin, possibly mediated by the neonatal Fc receptor. This study raises several questions about the physiological importance of this potential pathway and the implications for albuminuria in renal disease.

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Figure 1: The uptake and processing of albumin in the renal proximal tubule.

References

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Acknowledgements

The authors are supported by the Danish Council for Independent Research, Medical Sciences (FSS 11-104255 (E.I.C.) FSS 10-084505 (H.B.)) and the Lundbeck Foundation (R67-A6389 (H.B.)). The authors acknowledge the permission to use the results for serum albumin concentration in megalin-knockout mice, obtained by Rikke Nielsen and Kathrin Weyer, Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University.

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Correspondence to Erik I. Christensen.

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Christensen, E., Birn, H. Tubular handling of albumin—degradation or salvation?. Nat Rev Nephrol 9, 700–702 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneph.2013.212

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