Although fibroblasts are responsible for the production and deposition of extracellular matrix
in renal fibrosis, their origin is controversial. Circulating fibroblast precursors may contribute
to the pathogenesis of renal fibrosis, but the signaling mechanisms underlying the
recruitment of bone marrow-derived fibroblast precursors into the kidney in response to
injury are incompletely understood. Here, in the unilateral ureteral obstruction model of renal
fibrosis, tubular epithelial cells upregulated the chemokine CXCL16 in obstructed kidneys …