Adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal cell secretome protects against kidney injury through induction of heme oxygenase 1 upregulation in vitro

Figure 4 Gene Ontology term enrichment and contributing genes in adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal cells vs bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells. Significantly enriched Gene Ontology (GO) biological processes in adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (ADMSCs) compared to bone marrow-derived MSCs, including cellular response to oxidative stress (GO: 0034599; P = 0.0021), detoxification of reactive oxygen species (GO: 0072593; P = 0.0034), and mitochondrial respiratory chain complex assembly (GO: 0033108; P = 0.0017). The connection between transcriptome analysis and functional observations showing that enhanced nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway gene expression suggests an increased antioxidant capacity, which is reflected in the functional upregulation of heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) in NRK cells treated with the ADMSC secretome.