Scarring is one of the biggest problems in chronic kidney disease. When the kidneys are damaged over time, scar tissue builds up and slowly replaces the healthy tissue that keeps the kidneys working.
Now, researchers from the University of Connecticut have found a protein that may be responsible for this scarring. Their discovery could help protect kidney function and delay or prevent the need for dialysis or transplants in the future.
About one in seven adults in the United States has chronic kidney disease, and most don’t even know it. In 2019, Medicare spent $125 billion to treat people with chronic and end-stage kidney disease.
That number continues to rise each year. One reason kidney disease is so difficult to manage is that it often gets worse slowly and silently. By the time symptoms appear, the damage may already be serious.
The kidney’s main job is to filter waste from the blood and help maintain the right balance of minerals and fluids in the body. When scarring takes over, the kidney can’t do this job well. That’s why stopping or slowing down the scarring process is so important.
Dr. Yanlin Wang, a kidney doctor and scientist at the UConn School of Medicine, led the new study. His team wanted to understand how scarring starts in the kidney. They focused on a protein called SOX4.
This protein plays a role in how cells grow and change, and it has been linked to both healthy development and cancer. But its role in kidney disease was not yet known.
The researchers looked at kidney samples from mice with chronic kidney disease and from human patients. They noticed that a type of kidney cell called a tubular epithelial cell often became stressed and stuck in a damaged state when the kidney was diseased.
These stressed cells seemed to have high levels of SOX4. The researchers also found that SOX4 was working with other molecules to change how these cells behaved. This change activated nearby cells that create scar tissue.
To learn more, the scientists studied mice that didn’t have the SOX4 protein. The difference was clear: without SOX4, the kidneys had much less scarring. This means that SOX4 seems to push the cells toward making scar tissue.
Dr. Wang’s lab is now working to understand exactly how SOX4 causes these changes. They are also trying to find new treatments that could block SOX4 or stop it from causing damage.
If scientists can develop a drug or therapy that targets SOX4, it could help slow or stop the scarring process in people with kidney disease. That would be a huge step forward in keeping people healthy and out of the dialysis clinic.
This discovery is still in the early stages, and more research is needed before new treatments are available. But it offers hope that we may one day be able to stop kidney disease from getting worse by targeting the proteins that cause the damage.
If you care about kidney health, please read studies about pesticide linked to chronic kidney disease, and this drug may prevent kidney failure in people with diabetes.
For more health information, please see recent studies about drug duo that may treat kidney failure, and results showing these vegetables may protect against kidney damage.
Copyright © 2025 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
