Halting renal fibrosis: an unexpected role for mTORC2 signaling.

Slowly progressive renal fibrosis is the hallmark of chronic kidney disease, independent of its etiology. Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) has been found to be the main profibrotic renal cytokine. Li et al. identify mTORC2 as an important mediator of TGF-β signaling. Being upstream of the previously described profibrotic kinases AKT, SGK1, and PKC-α, mTORC2 represents a potentially interesting drug target. Yet, although the mouse genetic approach yielded convincing results, transition from bench to bedside will remain challenging.