Identification and characterization of stem cells for kidney

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

1)We found the biological condition under which bone marrow-derived cells differentiate into glomerular mesangial cells. 2)We purified SP cells from kidney, and characterized them. 3)We demonstrated that fetal cells were engragted in mother rats as a result of fetal microchimerism, and that the cells contributed to the repair of liver and kidney after chronic injury. Reportedly, pregnant women carry fetal cells which are imported through placenta. These fetal cells survive and exist for a long time in women with the history of pregnancy. This phenomenon is called fetal microchimerism. In human, there is a case with 27-year longstanding microchimerism. It is reported that fetal cells are detected in chronic inflammation lesions such as chronic thyroiditis and hepatitis C. Because fetal cells are semi-allogenic to mothers, they might cause autoimmune diseases such as Sjogren syndrome and scleroderma. We studied the relation between fetal cells in mother rats and renal diseases. In rat gentamcin-induced nephropathy, we found fetal cells were incorporated into tubular epithelial structure. This result suggests that human fetal cells also contribute to mother kidney. 4)We established a method to identify molecules which are involved in the repair of glomerular epithelial cells. 5)We found that retinoic acid plays a relevant role in the repair and that retinoic acid facilitates transcription of nephrin.