Abstract: In recent years, the incidence and progression of diabetic nephropathy (DN) to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) have been on the rise. Previous studies have shown that cellular senescence plays a significant role in DN. Fibrosis is an important pathological outcome of DN, and researchers have named the microenvironment formed during the process of fibrosis as the “fibrotic niche.” Cellular senescence-related genomic instability, epigenetic changes, and mitochondrial dysfunction are crucial for the formation of the microenvironment and the progression of the disease. The main components and scaffold structure of the fibrotic niche also have significant implications for promoting cellular senescence and disease progression. This article reviews the various connections between cellular senescence and the fibrotic niche in promoting the progression of DN, providing new reference schemes for the clinical treatment of DN and the development of related drugs.

Key words: diabetic nephropathy, cellular senescence, fibrosis, fibrotic niche