Proximal tubule responses to injury: interrogation by single-cell transcriptomics

Abstract

Purpose of review Acute kidney injury (AKI) occurs in approximately 10–15% of patients admitted to hospital and is associated with adverse clinical outcomes. Despite recent advances, management of patients with AKI is still mainly supportive, including the avoidance of nephrotoxins, volume and haemodynamic management and renal replacement therapy. A better understanding of the renal response to injury is the prerequisite to overcome current limitations in AKI diagnostics and therapy. Recent findings Single-cell technologies provided new opportunities to study the complexity of the kidney and have been instrumental for rapid advancements in the understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms of AKI. Summary We provide an update on single-cell technologies and we summarize the recent discoveries on the cellular response to injury in proximal tubule cells from the early response in AKI, to the mechanisms of tubule repair and the relevance of maladaptive tubule repair in the transition to chronic kidney disease.