Epidermal growth factor receptor promotes glomerular injury and renal failure in rapidly progressive crescentic glomerulonephritis

Rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN) is a form of severe kidney injury that can lead to promptly lethal renal failure. Pierre-Louis Tharaux and colleagues report that HB-EGF is upregulated in RPGN, resulting in activation of EGFR in podocytes and their dysfunction. They further show that genetic loss of expression of HB-EGF or EGFR in a mouse model is protective, whereas pharmacological inhibition of EGFR, even after disease onset, is therapeutic. These results suggest a possible avenue of treatment for this potentially devastating condition.