Journal: Frontiers in Immunology

Article Title: Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell–derived exosomes are associated with changes in renal injury markers, gut microbiota composition, and inflammatory signaling in IgA nephropathy

doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1854005

Figure Lengend Snippet: hUCMSC-Exos modulate gut microbiota composition in IgAN-like mice. (A) Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) based on Bray-Curtis distance showing microbial community structure among Control (n=5), IgAN (n=5), and IgAN+Exos (n=5) groups. PERMANOVA: R² = 0.4102, P = 0.001. (B) Genera previously associated with differentially enriched taxa in other studies are highlighted. (C) Spearman correlation analysis between representative genera and renal function/inflammatory parameters (Scr, UPCR, BUN, and serum NLRP3). Correlations are exploratory; uncorrected P values are shown. Data are presented as mean ± SD. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 (Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn’s post-hoc for B; Spearman correlation for C). Details are provided in Methods.

Article Snippet: When passage-5 hUCMSCs reached approximately 70% confluence, the medium was replaced with exosome-depleted medium, and cells were cultured for an additional 48h. hUCMSC-Exos were isolated by differential ultracentrifugation according to MISEV2023 guidelines ( ).

Techniques: Control

Journal: Frontiers in Immunology

Article Title: Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell–derived exosomes are associated with changes in renal injury markers, gut microbiota composition, and inflammatory signaling in IgA nephropathy

doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1854005

Figure Lengend Snippet: hUCMSC-Exos are associated with reduced renal dysfunction and histopathological injury in IgAN-like mice. (A) Blood urea nitrogen (BUN). (B) Serum creatinine (Scr). (C) Serum NLRP3 levels. (D) Urinary protein-to-creatinine ratio (UPCR). (E) Representative histological images are shown; quantitative histopathological scoring could not be performed due to limited remaining tissue availability. (F) Immunofluorescence analysis of glomerular IgA deposition. Data are presented as mean ± SD. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 (one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test for normally distributed data; otherwise Kruskal–Wallis test with Dunn’s correction). Each dot represents one animal.

Article Snippet: When passage-5 hUCMSCs reached approximately 70% confluence, the medium was replaced with exosome-depleted medium, and cells were cultured for an additional 48h. hUCMSC-Exos were isolated by differential ultracentrifugation according to MISEV2023 guidelines ( ).

Techniques: Immunofluorescence

Journal: Frontiers in Immunology

Article Title: Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell–derived exosomes are associated with changes in renal injury markers, gut microbiota composition, and inflammatory signaling in IgA nephropathy

doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1854005

Figure Lengend Snippet: hUCMSC-Exos are associated with reduced podocyte injury and NLRP3 inflammasome-related responses in vitro . (A) Podocyte viability assessed by CCK-8 assay. (B–D) Levels of IL-1β, IL-18, and NLRP3 in culture supernatants measured by ELISA. (E) NLRP3 mRNA expression analyzed by RT-qPCR. (F) Representative Western blot analysis of NLRP3 protein expression (n=3 independent experiments). All in vitro experiments were performed with three independent biological replicates, each with three technical replicates. Data are presented as mean ± SD. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 (one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post-hoc test).

Article Snippet: When passage-5 hUCMSCs reached approximately 70% confluence, the medium was replaced with exosome-depleted medium, and cells were cultured for an additional 48h. hUCMSC-Exos were isolated by differential ultracentrifugation according to MISEV2023 guidelines ( ).

Techniques: In Vitro, CCK-8 Assay, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, Expressing, Quantitative RT-PCR, Western Blot

Journal: Frontiers in Immunology

Article Title: Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell–derived exosomes are associated with changes in renal injury markers, gut microbiota composition, and inflammatory signaling in IgA nephropathy

doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1854005

Figure Lengend Snippet: Proposed association model of hUCMSC-Exos in IgAN-like mice. Schematic illustration summarizing the associations observed in this study. hUCMSC-Exos treatment was associated with altered gut microbiota composition and reduced inflammatory-related markers in podocytes and renal tissues. Potential interactions among gut microbiota, microbial metabolites, and host inflammatory responses are presented as hypothetical associations. Solid arrows indicate experimentally observed associations, whereas dashed arrows indicate inferred or speculative relationships that were not directly tested in this study.

Article Snippet: When passage-5 hUCMSCs reached approximately 70% confluence, the medium was replaced with exosome-depleted medium, and cells were cultured for an additional 48h. hUCMSC-Exos were isolated by differential ultracentrifugation according to MISEV2023 guidelines ( ).

Techniques: