Review Articles in 2022

This Review discusses the mTORC1 and AMPK nutrient sensing pathways, their downstream effects in kidney cells, their roles in the development of kidney disease and the therapeutic potential of approaches that target these pathways in various chronic kidney diseases.

Gut microbiome studies have potential to provide novel therapeutic targets in chronic kidney disease. Here, the authors not only examine the current state of the field and discuss potential gut-related therapies for targeting uraemic metabolites, but also provide guidelines for improving microbiome study design, and data collection and analysis.

Disruptions in oxalate homeostasis can lead to kidney disease and cardiovascular complications. Here, the authors review the pathways that regulate oxalogenesis and the excretion of both exogenous and endogenous oxalate, consider the pathological effects of excess oxalate, and examine the latest therapeutic options for addressing oxalate dysregulation.

This Review describes the global epidemiology, clinical course and key complications of youth-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus. The authors also discuss the mechanisms that might underlie the aggressive clinical phenotype of this disease and current management strategies.

This Review focuses on the potential applications of CRISPR to treat diseases that cannot be overcome by inducing frameshifts or premature stops in coding genes. The authors discuss Cas protein engineering and CRISPR systems beyond Cas9 that create a toolbox to engineer the human genome.

The COVID-19 pandemic was met with large-scale efforts to assess novel and repurposed therapeutic interventions that could reduce patient morbidity and mortality. Here, the authors discuss the different types of therapies available to treat COVID-19, including their relevance to patients with kidney failure and kidney transplant recipients.

Trained immunity refers to the development of immunological memory in innate immune cells. Here, the authors examine the basic features of trained immunity, as well as its role and potential therapeutic targeting in immunopathologies that involve the kidney.

Here, the authors review the mechanisms that underlie cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease. They also discuss the challenges of developing renoprotective approaches for patients receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy and potential targets for renoprotection.

This Review summarizes the current state of knowledge regarding immunological barriers to xenotransplantation and discusses the major approaches that are being used to overcome these barriers, including immunosuppression, genetic engineering of pigs and tolerance induction.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are increasingly used as anti-cancer treatments; however, their use can be associated with the development of immune-related adverse events, including acute kidney injury. This Review describes the symptoms, biochemical signs and possible underlying mechanisms of immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated acute kidney injury, and proposes an approach to its diagnosis and management.

The use of peritoneal dialysis (PD) can be advantageous compared with haemodialysis treatment, although several barriers limit its broad implementation. This review examines the epidemiology of peritoneal dialysis (PD) outcomes, including clinical, patient-reported and surrogate PD outcomes.

Low nephron number is a risk factor for the development of hypertension, chronic kidney disease and kidney failure. This Review describes the mechanisms that modulate nephrogenesis and the timing of nephrogenesis cessation, focusing on environmental and intrinsic pathways that may be manipulated to enhance nephron endowment in susceptible individuals.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Here, the authors examine CKD-associated risk factors for CVD and consider the prediction and management of CVD risk in patients with CKD, including research and implementation gaps.

Sterile inflammation triggered by activation of the innate immune system is an important driver of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and its associated cardiovascular disease. Here, Speer et al. summarize current understanding of the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of CKD and CKD-associated cardiovascular disease, and how these insights may translate into novel therapeutic strategies.

In this Review, the authors summarize the challenges associated with the care of patients with kidney disease during the COVID-19 pandemic. They describe the major challenges and missed opportunities, global inequalities in health care, and offer a framework for future pandemic preparedness.

Effective vaccination strategies are crucial to mitigate the high risk of infection-associated morbidity and mortality in patients with kidney failure. Here, the authors examine vaccine-induced immunity in these patients, in particular their responses to COVID-19 vaccination, in the context of the immune impairment induced by kidney dysfunction and the use of immunosuppressive medications.

In this Review, the authors provide an overview of the roles of miRNAs in the development of chronic kidney disease, acute kidney injury and allograft injury. They also discuss the utilization of miRNAs as biomarkers and their potential as therapeutic targets in kidney disease.

Cellular senescence has beneficial functions in embryonic development, wound healing and tumour suppression but can also be maladaptive, contributing to cancer development and disease. This Review describes the mechanisms, hallmarks and consequences of senescence, as well as the therapeutic potential of senescence-targeting interventions.

Alloimmune T cell responses have a crucial role in graft rejection. Here, the authors examine the factors that regulate T cell activation, differentiation and function in secondary lymphoid organs and in the graft, including the different pathways of allorecognition, innate–adaptive immunity crosstalk and the role of survival cytokines.

Our understanding of nephrogenesis has been aided by studies that have compared features of human and mouse nephrogenesis, and by technological advances in single-cell omics and high-resolution imaging techniques. This Review describes current understanding of nephron patterning, focusing on the processes by which nephron progenitors are recruited into the developing nephron.