Immunization with megalin induces active Heymann nephritis, which reproduces features of
human idiopathic membranous glomerulonephritis. Megalin is a complex immunological
target with four discrete ligand-binding domains (LBDs) that may contain epitopes to which
pathogenic autoantibodies are directed. Recently, a 236-residue N-terminal fragment,
termed “L6,” that spans the first LBD was shown to induce autoantibodies and severe
disease. We used this model to examine epitope-specific contributions to pathogenesis …