Kidney mesenchymal stem cells alleviate cisplatin-induced kidney injury and apoptosis in rats

Abstract

This experiment was designed to demonstrate that mesenchymal stem cells derived from kidney can alleviate cisplatin-induced kidney injury and renal cell apoptosis through paracrine pathway. Firstly, mesenchymal stem cells were isolated from kidney of young rats, and their surface-specific markers were identified by RT-PCR and immunofluorescence staining. Self-renewal ability of renal mesenchymal stem cells was observed by cell counting and BrdU fluorescence staining. KMSCs at logarithmic growth stage were traced and injected into rat kidney injury model induced by cisplatin through tail vein injection. The results showed that KMSCs homed in the kidney tissues, decreased the secretion of inflammatory factors (CRP, TNFα, IL-1β, IL-6), and alleviated renal function. H＆E, Masson and PASM staining showed that KMSCs could alleviate pathological damage in rats. TUNEL assay showed that KMSCs could reduce the apoptosis of rat kidney cells induced by cisplatin. Finally, IHC results showed that cisplatin could induce higher expression of the pro-apoptotic protein Bax and lower expression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 in kidney tissues. However, KMSCs could reverse the pro-apoptotic effect of cisplatin on kidney cells and improve the survival rate of rats. In conclusion, KMSCs were successfully isolated in this study, and KMSCs have therapeutic effects on rat kidney injury induced by cisplatin. The therapeutic effect can be achieved through anti-inflammation, anti-apoptosis and repair of renal function. The results of cell tracer showed that KMSCs could inhibit apoptosis and repair renal injury by endocrine or paracrine mechanism.