Podocalyxin (PODXL)

Podocalyxin belongs to the CD34/Podocalyxin family of sialomucins that share structural similarity and sequence homology. Podocalyxin is a major sialoprotein in the podocytes of the kidney glomerulus and is also expressed by both endothelium and multipotent hematopoietic progenitors. It has been identified as a novel cell surface marker for hemangioblasts, the common precursors of hematopoietic and endothelial cells.The  protein was originally identified as an important component of glomerular podocytes. Other biological activities of the encoded protein include: binding in a membrane protein complex with Na+/H+ exchanger regulatory factor to intracellular cytoskeletal elements, playing a role in hematopoetic cell differentiation, and being expressed in vascular endothelium cells and binding to L-selectin.