Pretreatments with injured microenvironmental signals altered the characteristics of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells.
OBJECTIVE
Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) have renoprotective effects but the influence of the microenvironment on characteristics of hUCMSCs has not been well studied. Here, we investigate the effects of injury conditions on properties of hUCMSCs.


RESULTS
hUCMSCs were treated in vitro under conditions mimicking the injury microenvironment of acute kidney injury. Cells stimulated with factor-treated medium proliferated slowly at first but quickly afterwards their morphology subsequently changed from spindle to stellate shape. Increased number of cells with strong expression of thymine-1 (Thy-1) or α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) was detected at 1 or 2 weeks after stimulation. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) level markedly increased after culture for 6 h under hypoxia condition. The expressions of HGF and insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1) were significantly up-regulated from 0.22 ± 0.03 to 0.9 ± 0.02 and 0.07 ± 0.03 to 0.19 ± 0.01 in H/R-treated hUCMSCs respectively. Co-culture with injured renal tubular epithelial cells significantly promoted the expression of HGF (1.19 ± 0.21) and IGF-1 (0.24 ± 0.03) in hUCMSCs.


CONCLUSIONS
The characteristics of hUCMSCs change in response to inured conditions, which may enhance the efficacy of stem cell therapy and provide novel strategies in maximizing biological and functional properties of hUCMSCs.
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, People's Republic of China.
Huiling
H
Cao
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Medical Science and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, People's Republic of China.
Qian
Q
Hui
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Medical Science and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, People's Republic of China.
Yongmin
Y
Yan
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, People's Republic of China.
Chunbing
C
Zhang
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, People's Republic of China.
Xuewen
X
Yang
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, People's Republic of China.
Liang
L
Ge
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Medical Science and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, People's Republic of China. iclsxu@163.com.
Wenrong
W
Xu
D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D058186:Acute Kidney Injury / Q000628:therapy; D000818:Animals; D015687:Cell Hypoxia; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D003470:Culture Media / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism; D007684:Kidney Tubules / Q000166:cytology*; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D018800:Thy-1 Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D014470:Umbilical Cord / Q000166:cytology*
C541116:ACTA2 protein, human; D000199:Actins; D003470:Culture Media; C066855:HGF protein, human; C583557:IGF1 protein, human; D018800:Thy-1 Antigens; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I
Hepatocyte growth factor; Insulin growth factor; Kidney injury; Mesenchymal stem cells; Pretreatment; Stem cell therapy; Umbilical cord stem cells