Talking back: the podocytes and endothelial cells duke it out.

Thrombotic microangiopathy has numerous causes and may result in chronic kidney disease with secondary glomerulosclerosis. Detailed analyses of this interplay of lesions have been lacking. Buob et al. report on their adult, mostly Caucasian patients, showing frequent sclerosis, most often of collapsing type, with worse prognosis than in those without segmental scars. The complex interplay of glomerular cells and possible ways in which the endothelial cells may talk back to the podocytes, and vice versa, are discussed.