Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Activation is Essential for Kidney Fibrosis Development

We found that EGFR expression increased in interstitial myofibroblasts in human and mouse fibrotic kidneys. Selective EGFR deletion in the fibroblast/pericyte population inhibited interstitial fibrosis in response to unilateral ureteral obstruction, ischemia or nephrotoxins. We used single-nucleus RNA sequencing analysis to demonstrate the role of EGFR activation in UUO model. Kidneys from both WT mice and FibEGFR-/- mice at day 1 and day 3 after UUO were used with kidneys of 3-5 mice from same group being combined for analysis.