title: Contribution of epithelial plasticity to renal transplantation-associated fibrosis.
abstract: Every year in the United States, 5000 renal transplant recipients start or restart dialysis because of the unusual propensity of these allografts to develop interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy (IF/TA). Although IF/TA often follows one or more identifiable events, our capacity to specifically treat, prevent, or even detect IF/TA at an early stage is poor. These limitations are largely related to our lack of adequate tools to assess graft failure over time. Data accumulated over the past 5 years have demonstrated that tubular epithelial cells may react to certain fibrogenic stimuli to engage in the process of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). In this review, we highlight the current view of EMT with a focus on both its role in the context of renal transplantation and the potential for utilizing markers of EMT to identify patients undergoing early IF/TA.
authors.affiliation: Division of Matrix Biology, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hertig
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Flier
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kalluri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001284:Atrophy; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; D005355:Fibrosis; D006801:Humans; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D007684:Kidney Tubules / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers