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World J Stem Cells. Aug 26, 2026; 18(8): 120270
Published online Aug 26, 2026. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.120270
Published online Aug 26, 2026. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.120270
Protective effect of hUC-MSCs regulating peritoneal mesothelial cell EMT through cGAS-STING signaling pathway in high glucose-induced peritoneal fibrosis
Fu-Xing Dong, Jian-Xin Wan, Department of Nephrology, Blood Purification Research Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, Fujian Province, China
Fu-Xing Dong, Department of Nephrology, Shengli Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical University, Fujian Provincial Hospital, Fuzhou University Affiliated Provincial Hospital, Fuzhou 350001, Fujian Province, China
Fu-Xing Dong, Jian-Xin Wan, Fujian Clinical Research Center for Metabolic Chronic Kidney Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, Fujian Province, China
Fu-Xing Dong, Jian-Xin Wan, Department of Nephrology, National Regional Medical Center, Binhai Campus of the First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350212, Fujian Province, China
Lu-Li Zheng, Kun Nie, Department of Blood Purification, Fujian Provincial Hospital, Fuzhou 350001, Fujian Province, China
Author contributions: Wan JX conceived and designed the experiments; Dong FX carried out the experiments and drafted the manuscript; Zheng LL and Nie K carried out the experiments and revised the manuscript.
AI contribution statement: No generative artificial intelligence tools were used in any stage of this paper.
Supported by Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province, No. 2021J01355.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All animal studies were conducted in accordance with the Animal Use Protocol and were approved by the Ethics Committee of Zvast-Bio Technology Co., Ltd. (No. 20240819).
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Data sharing statement: The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Corresponding author: Jian-Xin Wan, Chief Physician, Professor, Department of Nephrology, Blood Purification Research Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, No. 20 Chazhong Road, Taijiang District, Fuzhou 350005, Fujian Province, China.
Received: February 24, 2026
Revised: April 2, 2026
Accepted: May 18, 2026
Published online: August 26, 2026
Processing time: 179 Days and 22.4 Hours
Revised: April 2, 2026
Accepted: May 18, 2026
Published online: August 26, 2026
Processing time: 179 Days and 22.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: The cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS)-stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway is activated in peritoneal fibrosis (PF). This study shows that human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) alleviate high glucose-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition and murine PF. Mechanistically, hUC-MSCs exert protective effects by inhibiting the cGAS-STING axis. These findings identify hUC-MSCs as a promising therapeutic strategy to retard PF progression by targeting the cGAS-STING pathway in patients undergoing long-term peritoneal dialysis.