RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Mechanisms and Models of Kidney Tubular Necrosis and Nephron Loss JF Journal of the American Society of Nephrology JO J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. FD American Society of Nephrology SP 472 OP 486 DO 10.1681/ASN.2021101293 VO 33 IS 3 A1 Maremonti, Francesca A1 Meyer, Claudia A1 Linkermann, Andreas YR 2022 UL http://jasn.asnjournals.org/content/33/3/472.abstract AB Understanding nephron loss is a primary strategy for preventing CKD progression. Death of renal tubular cells may occur by apoptosis during developmental and regenerative processes. However, during AKI, the transition of AKI to CKD, sepsis-associated AKI, and kidney transplantation ferroptosis and necroptosis, two pathways associated with the loss of plasma membrane integrity, kill renal cells. This necrotic type of cell death is associated with an inflammatory response, which is referred to as necroinflammation. Importantly, the necroinflammatory response to cells that die by necroptosis may be fundamentally different from the tissue response to ferroptosis. Although mechanisms of ferroptosis and necroptosis have recently been investigated in detail, the cell death propagation during tubular necrosis, although described morphologically, remains incompletely understood. Here, we argue that a molecular switch downstream of tubular necrosis determines nephron regeneration versus nephron loss. Unraveling the details of this “switch” must include the inflammatory response to tubular necrosis and regenerative signals potentially controlled by inflammatory cells, including the stimulation of myofibroblasts as the origin of fibrosis. Understanding in detail the molecular switch and the inflammatory responses to tubular necrosis can inform the discussion of therapeutic options.