Synergism of calycosin and bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells to combat podocyte apoptosis to alleviate adriamycin-induced focal segmental glomerulosclerosis

Figure 1 Mesenchymal stem cells pretreated with calycosin enhance the protective effect of mesenchymal stem cells on podocyte injury in adriamycin-induced focal segmental glomerulosclerosis mice. A: Mice received adriamycin injections through the tail vein at week 6, were injected with Dulbecco’s modified eagle medium, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), calycosin (CA), and MSCs pretreated with CA (MSCs^CA) at week 10, respectively, and were sacrificed at week 14; B: Levels of albumin/creatinine ratio in urine (n = 6), ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.001; C: Pathological changes in the kidneys of mice examined by hematoxylin-eosin staining. Typical glomeruli are indicated by black boxes and enlarged to the next row. Bar = 50 μm; D: Changes in the kidneys of mice examined by podocin immunofluorescence staining. Glomeruli are indicated by white boxes and enlarged to the next row. Bar = 50 μm; E: Relative (podocin/GAPDH) mRNA expression analyzed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Data are expressed as the mean ± SD (n = 6). ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.001; F and G: Relative protein levels (podocin/GAPDH) detected by Western blot. Data are expressed as the mean ± SD (n = 3). ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.001. NC: Normal control; ADR: Adriamycin; DMEM: Dulbecco’s modified eagle medium; MSCs: Mesenchymal stem cells; CA: Calycosin; MSCs^CA: Mesenchymal stem cells pretreated with calycosin.