Innate immunity as a driving force in renal disease

Mrug et al. propose that innate immunity is a hallmark of progressive polycystic kidney disease (PKD). We propose that innate immunity is a driving force in the progression of many renal diseases. Renal epithelial cells are capable of expressing a large variety of proinflammatory genes resulting in the production of cytokines, chemokines, cell-adhesion molecules, and complement components. We suggest that future therapeutic interventions should be directed toward control of innate immunity in renal disease.