Journal of the American Society of Nephrology : JASN
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J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. · Aug 2006
Comparative StudyTransplanted mesenchymal stem cells accelerate glomerular healing in experimental glomerulonephritis.
Bone marrow-derived cells contribute to glomerular cell turnover and repair, but the cell types involved are unknown. Whether rat mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) can accelerate recovery from damage in rat mesangioproliferative anti-Thy1.1 glomerulonephritis was studied. After injection into the left renal artery on day 2 after disease induction, fluorescently labeled MSC were detected in 20 to 50% of glomeruli and rare intrarenal vessels but not in the tubulointerstitium, in contralateral kidneys, or in medium controls. ⋯ Double immunostaining of 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine-labeled MSC for endothelial, mesangial, or monocyte/macrophage antigens showed that 85 to 95% of MSC that localized in glomeruli on day 6 failed to express these markers. In vitro, MSC secreted high amounts of vascular endothelial growth factor and TGF-beta1 but not PDGF-BB. In conclusion, even low numbers of MSC can markedly accelerate glomerular recovery from mesangiolytic damage possibly related to paracrine growth factor release and not to differentiation into resident glomerular cell types or monocytes/macrophages.