(A) The current understanding of tubular injury and repair after ischemic AKI. With IRI, the normally highly polar epithelial cell loses its polarity and brush border with proteins mislocated on the cell membrane. With increasing time/severity of ischemia, there is cell death by either necrosis or apoptosis. Some of the necrotic debris is released into the lumen. Viable epithelial cells migrate and cover denuded areas of the basement membrane. These cells undergo division and replace lost cells. Ultimately, the cells go on to differentiate and reestablish the normal polarity of the epithelium. (B) The photomicrograph shows a vigorous repair process after ischemic injury in the mouse. Cells that have entered the cell cycle are stained with Ki-67. Cells specifically in the S phase of the cell cycle have taken up BrdU, which had been injected into the animal. Arrows point to some of the cross sections of tubules that are filled with cellular debris. Scale bar: 50 μm. Image in B reproduced with permission from Nature Medicine (128).