CLIC5A, a component of the ezrin-podocalyxin complex in glomeruli, is a determinant of podocyte integrity

The chloride intracellular channel 5A (CLIC5A) protein, one of two isoforms produced by the CLIC5 gene, was isolated originally as part of a cytoskeletal protein complex containing ezrin from placental microvilli. Whether CLIC5A functions as a bona fide ion channel is controversial. We reported previously that a CLIC5 transcript is enriched approximately 800-fold in human renal glomeruli relative to most other tissues. Therefore, this study sought to explore CLIC5 expression and function in glomeruli. RT-PCR and Western blots show that CLIC5A is the predominant CLIC5 isoform expressed in glomeruli. Confocal immunofluorescence and immunogold electron microscopy reveal high levels of CLIC5A protein in glomerular endothelial cells and podocytes. In podocytes, CLIC5A localizes to the apical plasma membrane of foot processes, similar to the known distribution of podocalyxin and ezrin. Ezrin and podocalyxin colocalize with CLIC5A in glomeruli, and podocalyxin coimmunoprecipitates with CLIC5A from glomerular lysates. In glomeruli of jitterbug (jbg/jbg) mice, which lack the CLIC5A protein, ezrin and phospho-ERM levels in podocytes are markedly lower than in wild-type mice. Transmission electron microscopy reveals patchy broadening and effacement of podocyte foot processes as well as vacuolization of glomerular endothelial cells. These ultrastructural changes are associated with microalbuminuria at baseline and increased susceptibility to adriamycin-induced glomerular injury compared with wild-type mice. Together, the data suggest that CLIC5A is required for the development and/or maintenance of the proper glomerular endothelial cell and podocyte architecture. We postulate that the interaction between podocalyxin and subjacent filamentous actin, which requires ezrin, is compromised in podocytes of CLIC5A-deficient mice, leading to dysfunction under unfavorable genetic or environmental conditions.