The unique characteristics of the immune microenvironment in the kidney are closely related to the occurrence and development of renal disease. These particular structures, physiological functions, and tissue microenvironments, including special subsets of immune cells, comprise local immunity. Local immunity still has many mysteries to be explored, for example, new subsets of immune cells have been discovered in the kidneys by single cell RNA sequencing.

These new immune cells possess unique biomarkers and functions. Identification of these new immune cells and cytokines in the kidney, with or without disease, will strengthen our understanding of the pathophysiology of kidney diseases. Renal autoimmune diseases, such as glomerulonephritis or nephrotic syndrome, are major causes of end-stage renal disease. Currently, there are no effective treatments to reverse renal fibrosis, and due to a lack of deep understanding of the fingerprint of the immune microenvironment, the landscape of immune function and pathophysiology in renal diseases is still unknown.

The aim of this Special Issue is to interpret the pathological mechanisms of the local immune system in kidney diseases and to promote bench-to-bedside translation. We welcome any research, with a focus on local immunity, exploring stem cells and their role in the immune microenvironment in the kidney, immune regulation in acute and chronic kidney injury, novel local immune cell subsets in renal diseases, and characteristics of the immune microenvironment in renal transplantation. We also invite articles exploring regional immunological features of the kidney, the relationship between renal disease and local immunity, and new immunotherapy targets and prevention strategies for kidney diseases. We hope submissions will help us understand novel mechanisms of immune microenvironment regulation and function in the kidney. We accept both original research, including basic and clinical work, and review articles.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Novel local immune cell subsets in the kidney
• Discovery of new immunocyte subsets by single cell sequencing in kidney transplantation
• Stem cell therapy in kidney diseases
• Regulation between mesenchymal stem cells and regulatory cells in the kidney, especially during cell therapy
• Immune regulation in acute and chronic kidney injury
• Immune therapy in kidney diseases
• Characteristics of the immune microenvironment in kidney transplantation
• Autoimmune diseases and their new options for treatment