Obesity, an important risk factor for metabolic syndrome (MetS) and cardiovascular disease,
is often complicated by CKD, which further increases cardiovascular risk and causes ESRD.
To elucidate the mechanism underlying this relationship, we investigated the role of the
endocytic receptor megalin in proximal tubule epithelial cells (PTECs). We studied a high-fat
diet (HFD)–induced obesity/MetS model using kidney-specific mosaic megalin knockout
(KO) mice. Compared with control littermates fed a normal-fat diet, control littermates fed an …