Mechanisms of diabetic nephropathy--old buddies and newcomers part 1

Diabetic nephropathy is the most frequent cause of terminal kidney failure in industrialized countries. In addition, the manifestation of diabetic nephropathy is associated with a poor prognosis for affected patients. Current therapies are based on established pathophysiological models. However, despite reflecting significant progress in our understanding of diabetic nephropathy, the translational efforts fell short their expectations. The current review summarizes recent studies which provided new insights into established mechanisms (part 1) and studies identifying new candidate mechanisms (part 2) underlying diabetic nephropathy.