Mesenchymal Stem Cells Alleviate Renal Fibrosis and Inhibit Autophagy via Exosome Transfer of miRNA-122a

Figure 6

Unilateral ureteral obstruction- (UUO-) induced changes in the levels of TGF-β1, and expression of autophagy-related proteins, p-mTOR, and p-AKT was improved by miRNA-122a mimic-transfected MSC treatment in UUO-injured mice. (a) miRNA-122a mimic-transfected MSC treatment dramatically reduced the serum levels of TGF-β1 in the sham and UUO groups at 7 days postinjury treated with either PBS vehicle, miRNA-122a mimic-transfected MSCs, and miRNA-122a mimic-transfected MSCs+3-MA (/group). (b) LC3II/I, p62, Beclin 1, ATG7, mTOR, p-mTOR, AKT, and p-AKT protein expression was evaluated by western blotting in UUO kidney tissue, and the quantitative analysis is shown on the right ( independent experiments). The results are expressed as the . Compared with the sham group, , , and . Compared with the UUO+PBS group, ^###, ^##, and ^#.

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