Table 1.
Overview of experimental models of MCD.
| Animal models (animal/route) | Strengths | Limitations |
|---|---|---|
| PAN (Rat, IP) | - MCD-like injury - Acute and severe proteinuria |
- Can evolve to FSGS - Direct toxicity on podocytes |
| LPS (Mouse, IP) | - MCD-like injury - Systemic immune activation - Acute proteinuria |
- Mild proteinuria - Sepsis - Acute kidney injury |
| Poly: IC (Mouse, IP) | - MCD-like injury - Acute proteinuria - Mimic viral infection |
- Mild proteinuria - Anecdotical use |
| Humanized mouse | - MCD-like injury - Incorporate PBMC from patients |
- Mild proteinuria |
| - Acute proteinuria | - Anecdotical use | |
| Angptl4 (Rat, TG) | - MCD-like injury | - Slow onset proteinuria - Requires second insult (puromycin, etc.) |
| Cell studies | Strengths | Limitations |
| Human podocytes | - Well-characterized - Mechanistic control - High throughput - Relatively easy and inexpensive |
- Does not recapitulate microenvironment - No shear stress - Limited glycocalyx - Inability to test permselectivity |
| Kidney organoids | - Incorporate different glomerular cells - Ability to test permselectivity and study crosstalk |
- Requires expertise and longer timeline for experiments - Expensive - Does not include all glomerular cells - Limited throughput |
| 3D co-cultures | - Ability to integrate two cell types and extracellular matrix - Microfluidic system - Reproduce shear stress - Ability to test permselectivity and study crosstalk - Develops glycocalyx |
- Requires expertise and longer timeline for experiments - Expensive - Does not include all glomerular cells - Limited throughput |
PAN, puromycin aminonucleoside; IP, intraperitoneal; MCD, minimal change disease; FSGS, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; Angptl4, angiopoietin-like 4; TG, transgenic. Poly: IC, Polyinosinic: polycytidylic acid.