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During the congress, E-Posters will be accessible to all participants on the congress website 24/7, as well as in the E-poster stations in the congress center.
Preparing your E-Poster
Please review the E-Poster format requirements carefully when preparing your E-Poster. Should your E-Poster not meet the mentioned requirements, it may not be displayed as described above.
E-Poster Submission Deadline
Please prepare and upload your E-Poster no later than March 14, 2026 11.59PM CET. After this date, you will no longer be able to prepare and upload your E-poster and it will not be displayed and accessible on the congress website.
Please follow the instructions below to input your abstract title.
Abstract titles should be brief and reflect the content of the abstract.
Human umbilical cord Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (UC-MSCs) exert their immunoregulatory effects by directly interacting with a variety of innate and adaptive immune cells. Durable UC-MSC depots have been established via SC injection in proprietary hydrogel formulations as well as via administration into PRAT, which has been recently recognized as an important homeostatic organ regulating the CV system and kidney maintenance via paracrine and endocrine mechanisms. The objectives of these studies were (a) to examine the therapeutic effects of hydrogel-formulated (hf) human UC-MSCs administered via SC injection in a genetic MRL/lpr model of lupus and (b) to investigate the effects of intra-PRAT administration of these hf-UC-MSCs in a High Fat Diet (HFD) obesity-related nephropathy model.
A. MRL/lpr model of lupus: On week 14, groups of female MRL/lpr mice were injected with a single SC hf-UC-MSC injection. Mice were sacrificed at week 21; serum, urine and kidney samples were collected for analysis. B. Obesity-related nephropathy model: Male C57BL/6J mice were fed a HFD (60% fat) for 8 weeks. Age-matched control mice were fed a normal diet (ND; 14% fat). At week 8, hf-UC-MSCs were injected into the right PRAT. The mice continued HFD/ND for another 6 weeks. Mice were sacrificed at week 14 and blood, urine and tissue samples were collected for analysis.
A. SC administration of hf-UC-MSCs in the lupus model triggered reduction in relative expression of both pro-inflammatory markers (TNFα, IL1β, IL6, IL18a, C-C Chemokine 2 (CCL2)) and pro-fibrotic markers (Fibronectin-1 (FN1), Collagen 1A1 (Col1A), TGFβ) in the kidneys (Fig. 1). B. Administration of hf-UC-MSCs intra-PRAT in the HFD model induced systemic effects, including reduction in blood glucose, urine creatine, urine Cystatine C and urine urea concentrations, as well as lowering of urine Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) levels, a biomarker for kidney injury in kidney disease and lupus nephritis (Fig. 2). We also observed 20% weight decrease after treatment as well as reduction in serum leptin. In the PRAT itself, administration of hf-UC-MSC triggered a reduction in relative expression of FNDC5, CCL1, CCL2 as well as a reduction in relative expression of IL6. Furthermore, hf-UC-MSC administration intra-PRAT initiated reduction in relative expression of TNFα, CCL2 and Connexin 43 (Cx43) as well as Col1A1 in the liver.
By employing hf-UC-MSCs, via SC or intra-PRAT routes of administration, both systemic and molecular-level beneficial effects were observed in models of lupus and diabetic kidney disease. It is hypothesized that UC-MSCs are exerting their anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects through the release of extracellular vesicles (EVs) and soluble active molecules in a paracrine fashion. These results support UC-MSCs’ immunomodulatory activity and form the basis for our ongoing Ph1/2a clinical study in lupus.
