Y S Jiang, T Jiang, B Huang, P S Chen, J Ouyang
Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of tubular epithelial cells (TECs) is commonly considered as the major mechanism leading to renal fibrosis in chronic kidney diseases (CKD) injury. We raise the hypothesis that EMT in adult kidney may be an event of "atavistic" phenotypic transition, which mimics but reverses the genetic and cellular processes of development of renal tubules. Transformed TECs may be regarded as induced mesenchymal stem-like cells, representing a cellular self-adaptation when in acute or chronic injury...
July 2013: Medical Hypotheses