Figure 4.

mUC-MSC paracrine inhibits cell proliferation by blocking PI3K/Akt and MAPK signaling pathways and promotes expression of MMPs in the DN cell model. (a) The inhibitory effect of mUC-MSC-conditioned medium on mesangial cell proliferation. Data are expressed as mean ± SD. ^∗P < 0.05, ^∗∗P < 0.01, and ^∗∗∗P < 0.001. (b) Immunoblotting analysis determined the regulatory effects of mUC-MSC-conditioned medium on the phosphorylation of PI3K, Akt, P38, and ERK1/2. (c) mUC-MSC-conditioned medium upregulates the levels of MMP2 and MMP9. All of the western blotting experiments were repeated independently three times.