Mohammad Mohammadzadeh-Vardin, Mehryar Habibi Roudkenar
*, Ali Jahanian-Najafabadi
1 Department of Anatomical Sciences and Pathology, School of Medicine, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran.
2 Blood Transfusion Research Center, High Institute for Research and Education in Transfusion Medicine, Tehran, Iran.
3 Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Isfahan, Iran.
Abstract
Purpose: Recent developments in the field of cell therapy have
led to a renewed interest in treatment of acute kidney injury (AKI). However,
the early death of transplanted mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in stressful
microenvironment of a recipient tissue is a major problem with this kind of
treatment. The objective of this study was to determine whether overexpression
of a cytoprotective factor, nuclear factor erythroid-2 related factor 2 (Nrf2),
in MSCs could protect rats against AKI.
Methods: The Nrf2 was
overexpressed in MSCs by recombinant adenoviruses, and the MSCs were implanted
to rats suffering from cisplatin-induced AKI.
Results: The obtained results showed that transplantation with
the engineered MSCs ameliorates cisplatin-induced AKI. Morphologic features of
the investigated kidneys showed that transplantation with the MSCs in which
Nrf2 had been overexpressed significantly improved the complications of AKI.
Conclusion: These findings suggested that the engineered MSCs
might be a good candidate to be further evaluated in clinical trials. However,
detailed studies must be performed to investigate the possible carcinogenic
effect of Nrf2 overexpression.