REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Inflammation
This article is part of the Research TopicImmune Cell Dynamics in Chronic Inflammatory Diseases and Cancer ImmunopathologyView all 3 articles
Podocyte,Tubular Epithelial-Immune Cell Interplay in the Pathogenesis of Lupus Nephritis
Provisionally accepted
- Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
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Lupus nephritis (LN), a severe complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The pathogenesis of LN involves complex immune-mediated mechanisms that alter the biology of renal resident epithelial cells. Emerging evidence highlights the bidirectional interactions between immune cells and renal epithelial cells—including podocytes and tubular epithelial cells(TECs)—as critical contributors to disease progression. These interactions shape local immune responses, drive inflammatory injury, and disrupt renal function. However, the molecular and cellular basis of this crosstalk remains incompletely understood. Recent advances have uncovered key mechanisms underlying these interactions and identified potential therapeutic targets that may inform future treatment strategies. This review summarizes current findings on the immunological roles of renal epithelial cells in LN and discusses their relevance to the development of targeted and cell-specific therapeutic interventions.
Keywords: Lupus Nephritis, Podocytes, Tubular epithelial cells, immune cells, Immune responses
Received: 08 Aug 2025; Accepted: 03 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Chen, Mou, Rui and Tian. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ke Rui, ruike@ujs.edu.cn
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