Therapeutic Effects of Human Urine-Derived Stem Cells in a Rat Model of Cisplatin-Induced Acute Kidney Injury In Vivo and In Vitro

Figure 1

Growth characteristics of USCs. (a) The morphology of USCs by passage and differentiation. Single, small, compact rice grain-like cells were observed on the third day after initial seeding, and they formed a colony on the seventh day. The cells were considered to be at P0 when the confluence reached 70-80% and were passaged to the next generation. The USCs maintained the rice grain-like morphology after several passages, and USCs from the P3 generation were induced to differentiate into SMCs and UCs. The cells showed an elongated and spindle-shaped morphology after SMC differentiation and a cobblestone-shaped morphology after UC differentiation. Scale bar: 50 μm, 100 μm, and 200 μm. (b) The growth curve of USCs from the P3 generation. (c) Detection of surface markers in USCs using flow cytometry. USCs did not express hematopoietic stem cell markers (CD31: 0.45%, CD34: 0.28%) but expressed MSC markers (CD44: 100%, CD73: 97.1%, and CD105: 96.3%) and pericyte markers (CD146: 95.7%). (d) Detection of surface markers in USCs using IF. USCs did not express hematopoietic stem cell markers (CD31, CD34, and CD45) but did express MSC markers (CD44 and CD133), the ESC marker SSEA4, and pericyte markers (CD146, PDGFRB, and NG2). NC: negative control; PDGFRB: platelet-derived growth factor beta-receptor; NG2: neural/glial antigen 2. Scale bar: 25 μm.

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