Replenishment of the podocyte compartment by parietal epithelial cells.

While progressive podocytopenia is a characteristic feature of chronic glomerular disease, the visceral epithelial niche can be replenished from the parietal epithelium. Two new reports demonstrate this process in genetically engineered mice, using fate mapping, and in human renal biopsies manifesting segmental glomerulosclerosis in diverse settings, using cellular and extracellular matrix markers.