Pretreatment with EPO significantly increased this chemotactic effect of transplanted MSCs in an ischemia/reperfusion-AKI (IR-AKI) model, because EPO can increase SDF-1 levels in the AKI microenvironment and activate the PI3K/AKT and MAPK signaling pathways in MSCs [109]. Here, AKT1 is linked to acute kidney injury.