About the Authors

Xiaoguang Fan

Affiliations Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China, Department of Nephrology, Zhengzhou University People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, People’s Republic of China

Rong Huang

Affiliations Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China, Key Laboratory of Nephrology, Ministry of Health, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

Juan Wang

Affiliations Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China, Key Laboratory of Nephrology, Ministry of Health, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

Hongjian Ye

Affiliations Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China, Key Laboratory of Nephrology, Ministry of Health, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

Qunying Guo

Affiliations Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China, Key Laboratory of Nephrology, Ministry of Health, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

Chunyan Yi

Affiliation Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

Jianxiong Lin

Affiliation Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

Qian Zhou

Affiliations Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China, Key Laboratory of Nephrology, Ministry of Health, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

Fengmin Shao

Affiliation Department of Nephrology, Zhengzhou University People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, People’s Republic of China

Xueqing Yu

Affiliations Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China, Key Laboratory of Nephrology, Ministry of Health, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

Xiao Yang

yangxsysu@126.com

Affiliations Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China, Key Laboratory of Nephrology, Ministry of Health, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

Competing Interests

The authors have the following interests: this work was supported in part by the U.S Baxter’s Renal Discoveries Extramural Grant Program. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter authors’ adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors.

Author Contributions

Performed the experiments: XGF XY. Analyzed the data: RH JW QZ. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: XQY QYG HJY CYY JXL. Contributed to the writing of the manuscript: XGF XY. Contributed to discussions: XQY FMS XY.