Insulin sensitivity of the human glomerular podocyte: Its biological importance and the role of nephrin in this process.

肾衰竭的主要原因是继发于糖尿病（DM）。糖尿病要么缺乏胰岛素的产生，要么缺乏胰岛素的细胞作用。糖尿病肾脏受累的第一个迹象是尿液中出现少量蛋白质，随着肾脏衰竭而增加。肾小球滤过屏障（GFB）是肾脏的一部分，作为一个筛子，防止蛋白质从血液中渗漏到尿液中。它由两种不同类型的细胞组成，分别是足细胞和内皮细胞。我们已经开发出一种独特的方法，通过在培养皿中培养这些细胞，在实验室中研究它们。利用这些细胞，我们发现足细胞对胰岛素迅速敏感，这表明GFB的胰岛素敏感性对健康很重要。我们的研究旨在研究胰岛素作用于GFB的确切机制。我们希望通过了解GFB的胰岛素反应性，我们可以开发新的治疗方法，在疾病早期治疗和预防尿蛋白丢失，并最终预防糖尿病患者的肾衰竭。

The leading cause of kidney failure in the world is secondary to diabetes mellitus (DM). In DM there is either a lack of the production, or cellular action, of insulin. The first sign of kidney involvement in DM is the appearance of small amounts of protein in the urine which increases as the kidneys fail. The glomerular filtration barrier (GFB) is the part of the kidney that acts as a sieve and prevents protein leaking into the urine from the blood. It is made up of two different cell types called podocytes and endothelial cells. We have developed a unique way of studying these cells in the laboratory by culturing them in dishes. Using these cells we have discovered that podocytes are rapidly insulin sensitive, suggesting that insulin sensitivity of the GFB is important in health. Our research intends to study the precise mechanism that insulin exerts its actions on the GFB. We hope that by understanding the insulin responsiveness of the GFB that we may be able to develop new treatments that will treat and prevent urinary protein loss early in disease and ultimately prevent kidney failure in the setting of diabetes.