TLR4 promotes fibrosis but attenuates tubular damage in progressive renal injury

WP Pulskens, E Rampanelli, GJ Teske… - Journal of the …, 2010 - journals.lww.com
Toll-like receptors (TLRs) can orchestrate an inflammatory response upon activation by
pathogen-associated motifs and release of endogenous stress ligands during tissue injury.
The kidney constitutively expresses most TLRs, including TLR4. The function of TLR4 during
the inflammation, tubular atrophy, and fibrosis that accompany progressive renal injury is
unknown. Here, we subjected wild-type (WT) and TLR4-deficient mice to unilateral ureteral
obstruction and observed elevated levels of TLR4 mRNA in the kidney after obstruction. One …