Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in kidney fibrosis: fact or fantasy?

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has become widely accepted as a mechanism by which injured renal tubular cells transform into mesenchymal cells that contribute to the development of fibrosis in chronic renal failure. However, an increasing number of studies raise doubts about the existence of this process in vivo. Herein, we review and summarize both sides of this debate, but it is our view that unequivocal evidence supporting EMT as an in vivo process in kidney fibrosis is lacking.