Factors produced by activated leukocytes alter renal epithelial cell differentiation.

The development of tubulointerstitial fibrosis in inflammatory renal diseases has been linked to disease progression to end-stage renal failure. Understanding the interactions of the factors influencing inflammation and activating the fibrotic process, that is, the inflammatory infiltrate and the resident proximal tubular cells, may lead to a determination of the mechanisms that regulate tubulointerstitial fibrosis. We used an in vitro model of human proximal tubule cells that were stimulated with supernatant from activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (leukocytes) to study the alterations in cellular phenotype, and examined the signaling pathways mediating epithelial-fibroblast like transdifferentiation. Our hypothesis of the proposed sequence of events leading to tubulointerstitial fibrosis is explained.