Defects in podocyte signaling are the basis of many inherited glomerular diseases leading to glomerulosclerosis. CD2-associated protein (CD2AP) is highly expressed in podocytes and is considered to play an important role in the maintenance of the glomerular slit diaphragm. Mice deficient for CD2AP (CD2AP ؊/؊ ) appear normal at birth but develop a rapid onset nephrotic syndrome at 3 weeks of age. We demonstrate that impaired intracellular signaling with subsequent podocyte damage is the reason for this delayed podocyte injury in CD2AP ؊/؊ mice. We document that CD2AP deficiency in podocytes leads to diminished signal initiation and termination of signaling pathways mediated by receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). In addition, we demonstrate that CIN85, a paralog of CD2AP, is involved in termination of RTK signaling in podocytes. CIN85 protein expression is increased in CD2AP ؊/؊ podocytes in vitro.
Stimulation of CD2AP؊/؊ podocytes with various growth factors, including insulin-like growth factor 1, vascular endothelial growth factor, and fibroblast growth factor, resulted in a significantly decreased phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/AKT and ERK signaling response. Moreover, increased CIN85 protein is detectable in podocytes in diseased CD2AP ؊/؊ mice, leading to decreased base-line activation of ERK and decreased phosphorylation after growth factor stimulation in vivo. Because repression of CIN85 protein leads to a restored RTK signaling response, our results support an important role of CD2AP/ CIN85 protein balance in the normal signaling response of podocytes.
Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)2 and Ras/ERK mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways are key factors for determining the specificity of cellular responses, including cell proliferation, cell differentiation, and cell survival (1, 2). We and others have previously demonstrated that the PI3K/AKT signaling response plays an important role for podocyte survival in particular in the presence of active transforming growth factor  (3, 4). We recently demonstrated that the PI3K/AKT response is directly targeted by cytokine cross-talk and subsequently influences the cellular outcome (5). The adaptor molecules CD2-associated protein (CD2AP) and CIN85 belong to a family of adaptor molecules that selectively control the spatial and temporal assembly of multiprotein complexes that transmit intracellular signals. For both molecules various interaction partners have been described placing them at the center of regulatory pathways involving signaling (6, 7), cytoskeletal arrangement (8, 9), vesicular trafficking (10), and endocytosis (11,12). In this study we demonstrate that CD2AP and CIN85 contribute to the balance of RTK signaling in podocytes. The anatomical localization of the podocyte exposes this highly specialized cell type to a variety of cellular stressors like stretch force, reactive oxygen species, osmotic milieu changes, cytokines and chemokines, filtrated toxins, and waste products. Therefore, this location requires the cells to have a highly e...