Renal tubular epithelial cell necroptosis promotes tubulointerstitial fibrosis in patients with chronic kidney disease

Renal fibrosis, a common pathological manifestation of virtually all types of chronic kidney disease (CKD), ultimately predisposes patients to end-stage renal disease. However, there is no effective therapy for renal fibrosis. Our earlier studies proved that RIP3-mediated necroptosis might be an important mode of renal tubular cell death in rats with chronic renal injury. Under transmission electron microscopy (TEM), we found morphological changes in the necrosis of human renal tissue, and the percentage of necrotic cells increased significantly in patients with stages 2 and 3a CKD. Immunofluorescence analyses showed that the percentages of TUNEL