Podocytes are essential to the structure and function of the glomerular filtration barrier;
however, they also exhibit increased expression of MHC class II molecules under
inflammatory conditions, and they remove Ig and immune complexes from the glomerular
basement membrane (GBM). This finding suggests that podocytes may act as antigen-
presenting cells, taking up and processing antigens to initiate specific T cell responses,
similar to professional hematopoietic cells such as dendritic cells or macrophages. Here …