title: Immune complexes and complexity: investigating mechanisms of renal disease.
abstract: The deposition of immune complexes is the causal factor in distinct renal pathologies, e.g., lupus nephritis and membranous nephritis. The location of these deposits within a tissue biopsy is often the key to establishing a diagnosis. However, how immune complexes come to be deposited below the vascular endothelium was, until now, a mystery, as was their contribution to inducing inflammation. A recent paper in Cell by Stamatiades et al. (Cell 164(4):991-1003, 2016) demonstrates the active transport of immune complexes by the vascular endothelial cells and an Fc receptor-dependent uptake by tissue-resident macrophages. This leads to the activation of these macrophages and the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which in turn recruits immune cells from the blood into the kidney. The identification of these mechanisms should lead to a better stratification of kidney diseases and hopefully to the development of specific therapies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Diabetes and Endocrinology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany. jon.lindquist@med.ovgu.de.
authors.forename: Jonathan A
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6846-5056
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Lindquist
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Diabetes and Endocrinology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Josephine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hildebrandt
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular and Clinical Immunology, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Philipsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Diabetes and Endocrinology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Mertens
mesh_terms: D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex; D001706:Biopsy; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000166:cytology; D007674:Kidney Diseases; D008181:Lupus Nephritis
chemical_list: D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex
keywords: Fc gamma receptors; Immune complexes; Inflammatory cell recruitment; Kidney; Macrophages