Therapeutic potential of urine-derived stem cells in renal regeneration following acute kidney injury: A comparative analysis with mesenchymal stem cells

Figure 2 Morphological characteristics of urine-derived stem cells. P0: Representative characteristics of the urine-derived stem cells (USCs) at primary passage within 48 h: The cells exhibiting individual colonies adhered to the culture plates, and nonadherent or sparsely adherent small round cells were scattered in the culture plates (100 ×). A: p1-p3: Representative characteristics of USCs from passage 1 to passage 3, between day 3 and day 12: The cell morphology gradually changed from the original “rice-like” shape to a “spindle-like” shape (100 ×); B: p4-p6: The morphology of cells displayed changes that suggest a potential for diverse differentiation, as indicated by variations in shape resembling, but not confirmed to be, endothelial and smooth muscle cell morphologies; C: p7-p8: The morphology of cells from passage 7 to 8 remained in a fibrocyte-like form with a long fusiform shape and grew in the same direction (100 ×).