New Insights into Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Kidney Fibrosis
By Youhua Liu. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 2009
871 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process by which differentiated epithelial cells undergo a phenotypic conversion that gives rise to the matrix-producing fibroblasts and myofibroblasts, is increasingly recognized as an integral part of tissue fibrogenesis after injury. However, the degree to which this process contributes to kidney fibrosis remains a matter of intense debate and is likely to be context-dependent. EMT is often preceded by and closely associated with chronic interstitial inflammation and could be an adaptive response of epithelial cells to a hostile or changing microenvironment. In addition to tubular epithelial cells, recent studies indicate that endothelial cells and glomerular podocytes may also undergo transition after injury. Phenotypic alteration of podocytes sets them in motion to functional impairment, resulting in proteinuria and glomerulosclerosis. Several intracellular signal transduction pathways such as TGFβ/Smad, integrin-linked kinase (ILK) and Wnt/β-catenin signaling are essential in controlling the process of EMT and presently are potential targets of antifibrotic therapy. This review highlights the current understanding of EMT and its underlying mechanisms to stimulate further discussion on its role, not only in the pathogenesis of renal interstitial fibrosis but also in the onset of podocyte dysfunction, proteinuria, and glomerulosclerosis.
Subfields: Molecular Biology, Nephrology
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/042decd4172c56a0c0ae6e6d40ee985b36e53558
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Citations in the corpus
- Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition induces cell cycle arrest and parenchymal damage in renal fibrosis (2015, neutral): “However, the precise contribution of EMT to the progression of kidney fibrosis remains a subject of debate 22–24 and only a minor population of α SMA + myofibroblasts are derived from TECs 4 .”
- Renal tubule injury: a driving force toward chronic kidney disease. (2018, background): “Altered microenvironments contribute to the reshaping of the mesenchymal cell phenotype, rendering TECs adaptable to changing cell phenotypes to avoid apoptosis.(203,204)”
- TGF-β/Smad signaling in renal fibrosis (2015, background): “…signaling with inhibitors or antagonists attenuates or reverses the process of EMT or EndMT (Fan et al., Frontiers in Physiology | www.frontiersin.org 3 March 2015 | Volume 6 | Article 82 1999; Zeisberg et al., 2003, 2008; Li et al., 2010; Liu, 2010; Yang et al., 2010; Xavier et al., 2014).”