Publication Name	World Journal of Stem Cells
Manuscript ID	116280
Country	China

Category	Cell & Tissue Engineering
Manuscript Type	Basic Study
Article Title	Erythropoietin-overexpressing mesenchymal stem cells accelerate diabetic wound healing via steroid signaling pathway modulation
Manuscript Source	Unsolicited Manuscript
All Author List	Bao-Dong Ma, Shu-Juan Zhang, Yi-Ming Shao, Ran-Ran Jin, Lei Sun, Peng-Ju Lv, Han Yue, Shou-Kui Hu and Xi-Wen Ma
Funding Agency and Grant Number	Funding Agency Grant Number Science and Technology Project of Henan Province 242102310112, LHGJ20230786 Incubation Project of Advanced Medical Research Center XJYXZX2021007
Corresponding Author	Xi-Wen Ma, MD, Professor, Department of Geriatric, Zhengzhou Central Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University, No. 16 Tongbai North Road, Zhongyuan District, Zhengzhou 450007, Henan Province, China. maxiwen@zzu.edu.cn
Key Words	Diabetic wound healing; Erythropoietin; Mesenchymal stem cells; Proteomics; Single-cell RNA sequencing; Transcriptomics
Core Tip	This study shows that erythropoietin-overexpressing mesenchymal stem cells (EPO-MSCs) accelerate diabetic wound repair by enhancing fibroblast migration, angiogenesis, and macrophage polarization. Integrated transcriptomic, proteomic, and single-cell analyses identify serum amyloid A3-positive reparative macrophages and C-C motif chemokine ligand-centered macrophage-neutrophil crosstalk as key immune nodes modulated by EPO-MSCs, alongside changes in steroid-related pathways. These mechanistic insights suggest that gene-engineered mesenchymal stem cells can overcome the chronic inflammatory microenvironment of diabetic wounds and provide a rationale for future dose optimization, safety evaluation, and early-phase clinical trials of EPO-MSCs therapy.
Citation	Ma BD, Zhang SJ, Shao YM, Jin RR, Sun L, Lv PJ, Yue H, Hu SK, Ma XW. Erythropoietin-overexpressing mesenchymal stem cells accelerate diabetic wound healing via steroid signaling pathway modulation. World J Stem Cells 2026; In press

Received	2025-11-07 09:55
Peer-Review Started	2025-11-07 09:56
First Decision by Editorial Office Director	2025-11-21 07:06
Return for Revision	2025-11-21 07:06
Revised	2025-12-01 04:19
Publication Fee Transferred	2025-12-02 10:30
Second Decision by Editor	2026-02-13 02:40
Second Decision by Editor-in-Chief
Final Decision by Editorial Office Director	2026-02-24 08:34
Articles in Press	2026-02-24 08:34
Edit the Manuscript by Language Editor
Typeset the Manuscript

ISSN	1948-0210 (online)
Open Access	This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
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