Molecular response to cytotoxic injury: role of inflammation, MAP kinases, and endoplasmic reticulum stress response.

Nephrotoxicants have varied direct and indirect effects on the vasculature, tubules, and interstitium of the kidney. In most cases the molecular components of the toxic insult are poorly understood. In this review some common themes of injury, repair, and adaptive protective responses that represent characteristic responses of the cells and kidney tissue that transcend the specifics of a particular toxin are presented. Particular attention is paid to the vascular and inflammatory aspects of nephrotoxicity as well as the activation of the MAP kinase families and the endoplasmic reticulum stress response by the tubular epithelial cell.