Fig. 1.

Designs of In vivo Experiments Diagram summarizing the designs of two experiments for investigating the effects of hUC-MSCs on kidney disease in the C57BL/6 mouse model of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes mellitus. As shown, mice were injected intra-peritoneally (i.p.) with 80 mg/kg STZ (diabetic/DM) or citrate buffer (nondiabetic/Non-DM) for 5 consecutive days. One week later, DM was confirmed by fasting blood glucose (FBG) > 16.7 mM. Eight weeks and 16 weeks after the injection of STZ/citrate buffer, groups of 6 DM and non-DM mice received 0.2 mL intravenous injections of normal saline (NS) or 5 × 10⁵ human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (hUC-MSCs) as illustrated. Two weeks later (10 weeks or 18 weeks following initiation of STZ/citrate buffer injections), mice were euthanized and urine, serum and kidneys were collected for analyses