TAZ is important for maintenance of the integrity of podocytes

Podocytes play an important role in maintaining the integrity of the structure and function of the kidney. We observed that mice with selective deletion of transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) in podocytes developed proteinuria. TAZ is constitutively active and critical for expression of synaptopodin, zonula occludens-1, and zonula occludens-2 in podocytes. The findings of this study implicate TAZ as an important mediator of podocyte structural integrity and provide further insights into the role of Hippo-Yes-associated protein/TAZ in podocyte biology.