The discovery of human podocyte antigens has promoted the research on membranous nephropathy. These antigens provide reliable biomarkers for the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of membranous nephropathy, and make it possible for personalized treatment. With the advance of detecting techniques, increasing target antigens of membranous nephropathy have been found, which not only improves our understanding of the disease, but also brings significant impacts on the existing diagnostic classification. This review sheds light on the characteristics of membranous nephropathy associated with target antigens, clarifies the reasons why the original classification is no longer suitable for the current clinical practice, summarizes the new diagnostic classification, and looks into the prospect of gene detection in diagnosis.