Regenerative Role of Lrig1 + Cells in Kidney Repair

In response to severe kidney injury, the kidney epithelium displays remarkable regenerative capabilities driven by adaptable resident epithelial cells. To date, it has been widely considered that the adult kidney lacks multipotent stem cells; thus, the cellular lineages responsible for repairing proximal tubule damage are incompletely understood. Leucine-rich repeats and immunoglobulin-like domains protein 1-expressing cells (Lrig1+ cells) have been identified as a long-lived cell in various tissues that can induce epithelial tissue repair. Therefore, we hypothesized that Lrig1+ cells participate in kidney development and tissue regeneration.