Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. May 26, 2024; 16(5): 525-537
Published online May 26, 2024. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v16.i5.525
Therapeutic potential of urine-derived stem cells in renal regeneration following acute kidney injury: A comparative analysis with mesenchymal stem cells
Fang Li, Bin Zhao, Lei Zhang, Guo-Qing Chen, Li Zhu, Xiao-Ling Feng, Meng-Jia Gong, Cheng-Chen Hu, Yuan-Yuan Zhang, Ming Li, Yong-Qiang Liu
Fang Li, Bin Zhao, Lei Zhang, Guo-Qing Chen, Li Zhu, Xiao-Ling Feng, Yong-Qiang Liu, Department of General Surgery, Chongqing General Hospital, Chongqing 401147, China
Meng-Jia Gong, Cheng-Chen Hu, Yuan-Yuan Zhang, Ming Li, Department of Pediatric Research Institute, Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 401147, China
Co-first authors: Fang Li and Bin Zhao.
Author contributions: Zhang YY and Li M conceptualised the study; Zhang YY and Liu YQ designed the study; Li F and Zhao B performed the experiments; Chen GQ and Zhu L prepared the figures; Zhu L and Liu YQ acquired funding; Li F and Gong MJ managed the study; Gong MJ and Zhang YY supervised the study; Feng XL and Hu CC drafted the manuscript; Li F, Zhao B, Zhang L, Chen GQ, Zhu L, Feng XL, Gong MJ, Hu CC, Zhang YY, Li M, and Liu YQ reviewed and edited the manuscript; and all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the local ethics review committee. All participants provided written informed consent prior to research participation.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: Animal experiments were executed under the policies of the Laboratory Animal Ethical Commission of Chongqing Medical University. This protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Chongqing Medical University and performed in accordance with the ethical standards prescribed by the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: The data supporting the findings of this study are available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yong-Qiang Liu, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of General Surgery, Chongqing General Hospital, No. 118 Xingguang Avenue, Liangjiang New District, Chongqing 401147, China. wklyq007@163.com
Received: December 19, 2023
Revised: February 5, 2024
Accepted: April 7, 2024
Published online: May 26, 2024
Processing time: 156 Days and 15.4 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: This study reveals that urine-derived stem cells (USCs) significantly enhance renal function and histological recovery in severe combined immune deficiency mice with glycerol-induced acute kidney injury (AKI). By comparing USCs with bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells, the research highlights USCs’ potential as a novel, non-invasive cell source for AKI treatment. The findings suggest that USCs, through their multidifferentiation potential and secretion of various cytokines and growth factors, offer a promising therapeutic strategy for AKI, potentially altering clinical approaches to renal repair.