Number and function impairment of resident C-Kit+ cardiac stem cells in mice with renal dysfunction caused by 5/6 nephrectomy

Figures & data

Figure 1. Density of blood vessels decreased in mice subjected to 5/6 nephrectomy. Representative sections of the heart for density of blood vessels by FLK-1 immunohistochemistry (×400), assessed at 12 weeks after 5/6 nephrectomy in normal mice (n = 6), sham-operated mice (n = 6) and 5/6 nephrectomy mice (n = 6) *p < 0.05 versus normal group, †p < 0.05 versus sham-operated mice.

Table 1. Left ventricular function and renal function assessed in mice 12 weeks after 5/6 nephrectomy.

Normal (n = 6)	Sham (n = 18)	5/6 NC (n = 18)
CRE	0.372 ± 0.049	0.383 ± 0.051	0.827 ± 0.049*†
BUN	27.9 ± 3.5	28.6 ± 3.0	91.9 ± 9.5*†
LVDd	3.7 ± 0.4	3.7 ± 0.6	5.1 ± 0.5*†
LVFS	35 ± 2.1	34 ± 1.97	21 ± 2.6*†

*p < 0.05 versus normal group, †p < 0.05 versus sham-operated group, CRE, serum creatinine (mg/dL); BUN, blood urea nitrogen (mg/dL); 5/6NC, 5/6 nephrectomy; LVDd, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (mm); LVFS, Left ventricular fractional shortening (%). Data are expressed as mean ± SD.

Figure 2. Number impairment in C-kit⁺ cells stemmed from 5/6 nephrectomy mice. Flow cytometry counts of C-kit positive cells in normal (n = 6), sham-operated (n = 6), and 5/6 nephrectomy mice (n = 6). *p < 0.05 versus normal group, †p < 0.05 versus sham-operated mice.

Figure 3. Function impairment in C-kit⁺ cells stemmed from 5/6 nephrectomy mice. (a) Cultured C-kit⁺ cells obtained from the mice subjected to 5/6 nephrectomy (n = 6) and sham-operated (n = 6) mice were Immunohistochemical analysis revealing the TUNEL positive cell and 8-OhdG positive cell; TUNEL, 8-OHdG, green; C-kit, red; nuclei stained with Hoechst, blue; C-kit and TUNEL, C-kit and 8-OHdG overlap, yellow. (b) Apoptosis percentage and 8-OHdG positive ratio. (c) Effects of 5/6 nephrectomy on 0.3% H₂O₂-induced oxidative stress. in cultured C-kit⁺ cells. *significantly different from the sham group. (d) Effects of 5/6 nephrectomy on 0.3% H₂O₂-induced apoptosis in cultured C-kit⁺ cells. *significantly different from the sham group. (e) Effects of uremic rat serum on cultured C-kit⁺ cells apoptosis and oxidative stress. *statistically and significantly different from the conditional medium group.

Figure 4. Secretion of proangiogenic factors reduced in 5/6 nephrectomy mice CSC. Immunoblot analysis of Cultured cells expression of proangiogenic factors of HGF, IGF, VEGF, and angiopoietin. *p < 0.05 versus sham-operated mice (n = 6), NS stands for no significance.