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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Feb 1.
Published in final edited form as: Acta Physiol (Oxf). 2017 Jul 25;222(2):10.1111/apha.12914. doi: 10.1111/apha.12914

Figure 5.

Figure 5

Both HPP-ECFC and pro-angiogenic hematopoietic cells can mitigate acute kidney injury. Both cell types have been shown to improve renal function and renal perfusion when administered prior to the establishment of renal injury. Possible mechanisms include a direct inhibition of adhesion molecule expression proposed to maintain perfusion in the early injury phase (See Figure 1). Maintenance of vascular structure likely is based on prevention of endothelial loss for which EndoMT represents a primary mechanism. Protection is likely mediated by released factors such as pro-angiogenic factors or exosomal transfer of microRNA to protect endothelial injury. Whether administered ECFC could repopulate capillary endothelium is currently subject to debate (likely depends on mode of administration). We propose that co-operative activity of both HPP-ECFC and pro-angiogenic hematopoietic cells could potentially lead to successful engraftment in the acutely injured kidney.