FIGURE 6.

Cell-cell contacts were preserved in TAT-Neph1CD-transduced podocytes treated with PAN. A and B, podocytes were labeled with Vybrantô DiI cell membrane labeling dye for easier visualization of cell boundaries. Number of podocyte cells that were engaged in cell-cell contacts were identified and analyzed. The cell-cell contacts were calculated by analyzing 100 cells in each group (in triplicate), and the cells with more than 50% of their surface (defined manually using actin and membrane DiI staining images) in contact with the neighboring cells were considered positive. The podocytes transduced with TAT-GFP showed significant reduction in the cell-cell contacts, and thus the number of cells involved in contact formation were significantly reduced in response to 48 h of PAN treatment; in contrast, the cell-cell contacts were well preserved in the TAT-Neph1CD-transduced cells treated with PAN. Scale bar, 10 μm (A).