Over a decade ago, it was proposed that the regulation of tubular repair in the kidney might
involve the recapitulation of developmental pathways. Although the kidney cannot generate
new nephrons after birth, suggesting a low level of regenerative competence, the tubular
epithelial cells of the nephrons can proliferate to repair the damage after AKI. However, the
debate continues over whether this repair involves a persistent progenitor population or any
mature epithelial cell remaining after injury. Recent reports have highlighted the expression …