Tubulointerstitial inflammation and progressive fibrosis are common pathways that lead to
kidney failure in proteinuric nephropathies. Activation of the complement system has been
implicated in the development of tubulointerstitial injury in clinical and animal studies, but
the mechanism by which complement induces kidney injury is not fully understood. Here, we
studied the effect of complement on the phenotype of tubular epithelial cells. Tubular
epithelial cells exposed to serum proteins adopted phenotypic and functional characteristics …