Recovering from acute kidney damage isn’t just about growing kidney cells—it also requires kidney tissue to stiffen temporarily, University of Connecticut researchers report Dec. 3 in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. “When a kidney is suddenly damaged, it’s mostly tubule cells. If the kidney is injured, it’s generally the tubule cells that need to regrow. The researchers are currently collaborating with bioengineers to develop decellularized kidney matrix scaffolds to support therapies for acute kidney injury. Zhou’s team has another paper coming soon in Nature Metabolism that systemically reveals how early-activated ECM proteins remotely regulate kidney tubule metabolism during scar tissue formation—the common endpoint of most kidney diseases.