Activation of the Renin–Angiotensin System Disrupts the Cytoskeletal Architecture of Human Urine-Derived Podocytes

High blood pressure is one of the major public health problems that causes severe disorders in several tissues including the human kidney. One of the most important signaling pathways associated with the regulation of blood pressure is the renin–angiotensin system (RAS), with its main mediator angiotensin II (ANGII). Elevated levels of circulating and intracellular ANGII and aldosterone lead to pro-fibrotic, -inflammatory, and -hypertrophic milieu that causes remodeling and dysfunction in cardiovascular and renal tissues. Furthermore, ANGII has been recognized as a major risk factor for the induction of apoptosis in podocytes, ultimately leading to chronic kidney disease (CKD). In the past, disease modeling of kidney-associated diseases was extremely difficult, as the derivation of kidney originated cells is very challenging. Here we describe a differentiation protocol for reproducible differentiation of sine oculis homeobox homolog 2 (SIX2)-positive urine-derived renal progenitor cells (UdRPCs) into podocytes bearing typical cellular processes. The UdRPCs-derived podocytes show the activation of the renin–angiotensin system by being responsive to ANGII stimulation. Our data reveal the ANGII-dependent downregulation of nephrin (NPHS1) and synaptopodin (SYNPO), resulting in the disruption of the podocyte cytoskeletal architecture, as shown by immunofluorescence-based detection of α-Actinin. Furthermore, we show that the cytoskeletal disruption is mainly mediated through angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AGTR1) signaling and can be rescued by AGTR1 inhibition with the selective, competitive angiotensin II receptor type 1 antagonist, losartan. In the present manuscript we confirm and propose UdRPCs differentiated to podocytes as a unique cell type useful for studying nephrogenesis and associated diseases. Furthermore, the responsiveness of UdRPCs-derived podocytes to ANGII implies potential applications in nephrotoxicity studies and drug screening.