Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in kidney fibrosis: fact or fantasy?
Wilhelm Kriz, … , Brigitte Kaissling, Michel Le Hir
Wilhelm Kriz, … , Brigitte Kaissling, Michel Le Hir
Published February 1, 2011
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2011;121(2):468-474. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI44595.
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Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in kidney fibrosis: fact or fantasy?

Abstract

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has become widely accepted as a mechanism by which injured renal tubular cells transform into mesenchymal cells that contribute to the development of fibrosis in chronic renal failure. However, an increasing number of studies raise doubts about the existence of this process in vivo. Herein, we review and summarize both sides of this debate, but it is our view that unequivocal evidence supporting EMT as an in vivo process in kidney fibrosis is lacking.

Authors

Wilhelm Kriz, Brigitte Kaissling, Michel Le Hir

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Figure 4

Renal fibroblast.

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Renal fibroblast. TEM of a fibroblast in the renal cortical interstitium...
TEM of a fibroblast in the renal cortical interstitium of a healthy rat. From the cell body, numerous processes emerge that make contacts with a capillary (C, arrows), a tubule (double arrow), and another fibroblast (arrowhead). Scale bar: 1 μm. Reproduced with permission from Histochemistry and Cell Biology (16).