Fig. 6: PLCE1 regulates mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in podocytes.

a MAPK phosphorylation was induced by 20 ng/µl epidermal growth factor (EGF) treatment for 45 or 120 min. EGF-induced phosphorylation of ERK and JNK was significantly reduced in PLCE1 knockout (KO) podocytes. b, c The effects of PLCE1 or NCK2 KO on podocyte proliferation. PLCE1 KO podocytes exhibited lower proliferation (b, red and orange lines), whereas NCK2 KO podocytes exhibited no significant differences in proliferation (c, red and orange lines) with respect to the control cells (black line). Error bars are shown in one direction only for clarity and indicate standard deviations from more than three independent experiments. d Expression analysis of podocyte markers. The expression of NEPH1, NPHS1, WT1, and SYNPO was measured by quantitative real-time PCR. The expression of podocyte markers was significantly reduced in PLCE1 KO podocytes, whereas no difference in the levels of podocyte markers was observed between NCK2 KO and control podocytes. Gene expression was normalized relative to that of actin. Data are presented as the mean ± standard deviation (n = 3). *P < 0.05.