Abstract
Zhou et al. validate the expression of markers of the innate immune system in the cpk mouse model of polycystic kidney disease (PKD), in human recessive PKD, and in human autosomal dominant PKD and show that CD14 expression correlates with PKD progression, even from very early stages of disease. Moreover, they show that CD14 is expressed from the renal tubule epithelial cells, suggesting a mechanism of Toll-like receptor-4 activation in PKD prior to the infiltration of inflammatory cells.