• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.67-76
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• 2019

Kidney disease is a major global health issue. Hemodialysis and kidney transplantation have been used in the clinic to treat renal failure. However, the dialysis is not an effective long-term option, as it is unable to replace complete renal functions. Kidney transplantation is the only permanent treatment for end-stage renal disease (ESRD), but a shortage of implantable kidney tissues limits the therapeutic availability. As such, there is a dire need to come up with a solution that provides renal functions as an alternative to the current standards. Recent advances in cell-based therapy have offered new therapeutic options for the treatment of damaged kidney tissues. Particularly, cell secretome therapy utilizing bioactive compounds released from therapeutic cells holds significant beneficial effects on the kidneys. This review will describe the reno-therapeutic effects of secretome components derived from various types of cells and discuss the development of efficient delivery methods to improve the therapeutic outcomes.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2018

In the last several decades, cell therapy research has increased worldwide. Many studies have been conducted on cell therapy, and have revealed that transplanted cells did not survive for long, and implanted cells remained inactive causing immune rejection depending on the patient's condition. Therefore, studies on cell-free therapy need to be conducted. To overcome these limitations, an alternative is the use of supernatant from cells, called "conditioned media (CM)." During in vitro cell culture, culture media supply nutrients to maintain cell characteristics and viability. In the culture, cells not only consume nutrients but also release beneficial proteins and substances, which are called "secretome." CM from cells can be stored for a long time and is easy to handle. Moreover, secretome in CM can also be measured; exact amount of secretome is important to set the standard value for disease treatment. Here, we reviewed studies on CM and confirmed that various secretomes from CM were identified in these studies. Moreover, these findings could benefit cell and animal studies in future. In conclusion, CM could be a potential candidate for an alternative to cell therapy.

• BMB Reports
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• v.53 no.11
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• pp.600-604
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• 2020

Macrophages are re-educated and polarized in response to myocardial infarction (MI). The M2 anti-inflammatory phenotype is a known dominator of late stage MI. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent a promising tool for cell therapy, particularly heart related diseases. In general, MSCs induce alteration of the macrophage subtype from M1 to M2, both in vitro and in vivo. We conjectured that hypoxic conditions can promote secretome productivity of MSCs. Hypoxia induces TGF-β1 expression, and TGF-β1 mediates M2 macrophage polarization for anti-inflammation and angiogenesis in infarcted areas. We hypothesized that macrophages undergo advanced M2 polarization after exposure to MSCs in hypoxia. Treatment of MSCs derived hypoxic conditioned medium (hypo-CM) promoted M2 phenotype and neovascularization through the TGF-β1/Smad3 pathway. In addition, hypo-CM derived from MSCs improved restoration of ischemic heart, such as attenuating cell apoptosis and fibrosis, and ameliorating microvessel density. Based on our results, we propose a new therapeutic method for effective MI treatment using regulation of macrophage polarization.