24/11/2025
Ottawa, Ontario — Monday November 24, 2025
Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (iNS) is a kidney disorder where the kidneys leak too much protein into the urine, causing swelling, fatigue, and increased risk of infection. iNS can cause a lot of complications for kids, but since we don’t yet understand how or why the disease develops in the body, possible therapeutic targets are hard to find.
A new study from early career researcher Robert Myette explores the disease mechanism of iNS, and is the first to identify elevated levels of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in podocyte-specific large extracellular vesicles (LEVs).
“Our findings suggest that what’s inside these tiny vesicles can tell us a lot about how kidney cells respond to stress caused by nephrotic syndrome.” said Dr. Robert Myette. “If we can turn that into a reliable marker, it could transform how we monitor and treat nephrotic syndrome in children.”
Podocytes, or foot cells, filter waste from the bloodstream to be expelled through urine. When a foot cell is damaged, its mitochondria can break down and mtDNA is expelled along with other proteins within LEVs. CHEO researchers identified elevated levels of mtDNA in vitro, in rat models, and in observations of kids with iNS, compared to baseline or cases in remission, highlighting a promising explanation of disease mechanism for iNS.
Future research will explore the mtDNA and proteins found on foot cell LEVs to potentially identify biomarkers that can further explain the underlying biological processes of the disease, with the long-term goal of identifying therapies to help kids with iNS.