The molecular mechanisms that maintain podocytes and consequently, the integrity of the
glomerular filtration barrier are incompletely understood. Here, we show that the class III
phosphoinositide 3-kinase vacuolar protein sorting 34 (Vps34) plays a central role in
modulating endocytic pathways, maintaining podocyte homeostasis. In mice, podocyte-
specific conditional knockout of Vps34 led to early proteinuria, glomerular scarring, and
death within 3–9 weeks of age. Vps34-deficient podocytes exhibited substantial …