Early Ultrastructural Changes in Biopsies From Patients With Symptomatic CKD of Uncertain Etiology.

Introduction: Although the investigation of chronic kidney disease of uncertain etiology (CKDu) has identified many possible influencing factors in recent years, the exact pathomechanism of this disease remains unclear.

Methods: In this study, we collected 13 renal biopsies from patients with symptomatic CKDu (Sym-CKDu) from Sri Lanka with well-documented clinical and socioeconomic factors. We performed light microscopy and electron microscopic evaluation for ultrastructural analysis, which was compared with 100 biopsies from German patients with 20 different kidney diseases.

Light Chain Restriction in Proximal Tubules-Implications for Light Chain Proximal Tubulopathy.

Monoclonal gammopathy (MG) causes various nephropathies, which may suffice for cytoreductive therapy even in the absence of diagnostic criteria for multiple myeloma or B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The aim of this study was to better understand the significance of light chain (LC) restriction or crystals (LC-R/C) in proximal tubules in the spectrum of LC-induced nephropathies. A consecutive cohort of 320 renal specimens with a history of B-cell dyscrasia was characterized.

Epithelial RAC1-dependent cytoskeleton dynamics controls cell mechanics, cell shedding and barrier integrity in intestinal inflammation.

Objective: Increased apoptotic shedding has been linked to intestinal barrier dysfunction and development of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). In contrast, physiological cell shedding allows the renewal of the epithelial monolayer without compromising the barrier function. Here, we investigated the role of live cell extrusion in epithelial barrier alterations in IBD.

Characteristic morphological changes in anti-VEGF therapy-induced glomerular microangiopathy.

Aims: Agents targeting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) have increasingly been used for the treatment of advanced malignancies, and have been found to induce renal thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) and proteinuria. However, histomorphological changes in human biopsies in this setting and the underlying mechanism are not yet fully understood. Therefore, we collected renal biopsy cases with a history of aVEGF therapy to review and compare morphological kidney changes in this context.

Bi-nucleation of podocytes is uniformly accompanied by foot processes widening in renal disease.

Background: Podocytes are terminally differentiated glomerular cells expressing a highly complex architecture and lacking the ability to proliferate. However, during renal injury or stress these cells can re-enter into the cell cycle but fail to divide. As a consequence, bi- and multi-nucleated podocytes can be identified in renal biopsies from patients with various kidney diseases.

L Particles Transmit Viral Proteins from Herpes Simplex Virus 1-Infected Mature Dendritic Cells to Uninfected Bystander Cells, Inducing CD83 Downmodulation.

Unlabelled: Mature dendritic cells (mDCs) are known as the most potent antigen-presenting cells (APCs) since they are also able to prime/induce naive T cells. Thus, mDCs play a pivotal role during the induction of antiviral immune responses. Remarkably, the cell surface molecule CD83, which was shown to have costimulatory properties, is targeted by herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) for viral immune escape.