ABSTRACT
Objective: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent a promising population for supporting new clinical concepts in cellular therapy, and they can be reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) by defined factors. Methods: This method opened up a new era of stem cell research, because the transplantation rejection of iPSCs is the bottleneck of its clinical application, so seeking alternative compounds and animal origin diagnostic reagents to achieve full chemical iPSCs is to be done to solve this problem. Results: The application of these iPSCs has largely been associated with well known undesirable effects such as the development of cancers in certain experimental models. This has called for the search and use of reprogramming factors that are safe. Chinese materia medica (CMM) with tonifying kidney function (TKF) offers an alternative source. On the other hand, human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUMSCs) are known to be a "young" source of MSCs, hUMSCs transplantation is an attractive approach for acute kidney injury repair. Therefore, In this study, we investigated whether the treatment of CMM with TKF on hUMSCs could enhance the repair in mice model of acute kidney injury after transplantation. Conclusion: Our results showed that the treatment of hUMSCs with kidney tonifying CMM increased their multipotency, improved the renal function of mice and enhanced subsequent homing to the injured kidney in an acute kidney injury mice model.