Effect of Osteoking on the osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation potential of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in vitro.

BACKGROUND: Bone damage is a condition that affects the quality of life of patients. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are important for bone repair. Osteoking is a natural compound in traditional Chinese Medicine used to treat bone diseases; however, the effect of Osteoking on the differentiation of MSCs has not been reported. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of Osteoking on the osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation potential of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (rbMSCs). METHODS: The effects of Osteoking on the proliferation and differentiation of rbMSCs were investigated. Different concentrations of Osteoking were prepared, and its cytotoxicity was evaluated by CCK-8 assay. The expression of osteogenic and adipogenic genes were determined, and several staining methods were used to reveal the osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation potential of rbMSCs. RESULTS: Our results show that appropriate concentrations of Osteoking can enhance osteogenic differentiation of rbMSCs and reduce adipogenic differentiation without any effect on proliferation. This may be related to the changes in related gene expression. CONCLUSION: Osteoking enhances osteogenic differentiation and inhibits adipogenic differentiation of rbMSCs. Therefore, Osteoking may have a therapeutic potential for treating bone disease caused by changes in differentiation function of MSCs.

Remediation for trace metals in polluted soils by turfgrass assisted with chemical reagents.

Trace metal pollution in soils is one of the universal environmental problems in the world. Phytoremediation is a green, safe, ecological, and economic method to achieve continuous reduction of soil pollutants. Turfgrass is a plant with great landscape value and has considerable biomass when used for remediation of trace metal contaminated soil. However, its remediation ability needs to be improved in future application. The combined application of turfgrass, citric acid (CA) and auxin (gibberellin, GA3) were applied in the phytoremediation of an artificial nutritive soil derived from sludge, and a field scale orthogonal experiment (L9) was conducted to understand the interaction effect and obtain the optimum phytoremediation. Experimental results showed that the types and cultural patterns of turfgrass mainly determined plant height, root length and trace metal concentration in turfgrass, however CA treatment was prone to increase the aboveground biomass and the concentrations of most trace metals in turfgrasses, especially the concentration of Ni in turfgrass. GA3 spraying significantly increased the concentration of Cd in turfgrass. The culture patterns of turfgrass played 42.4% influence on acid-extractable Cd, while CA applying had 53.8% influence on the acid-extractable Ni. The annual phytoextraction amount of trace metals based on five mowing a year were proposed to assess the remediation ability of treatments, which of the combination treatment (T3, intercropping Zoysia matrella and Lolium perenne, and applying 400 mg kg-1 CA and 30 mg kg-1 GA3) were 1.6-2.1 times higher CK group. This research provides technical reference for intercropping turfgrass for remediation of trace metals in sludge-derived nutritive soil.

A tree shrew model for steroid-associated osteonecrosis.

Osteonecrosis is a common human disease in orthopedics. It is difficult to treat, and half of patients may need artificial joint replacement, resulting in a considerable economic burden and a reduction in quality of life. Hormones are one of the major causes of osteonecrosis and high doses of corticosteroids are considered the most dangerous factor. Because of the complexity of treatment, we still need a better animal model that can be widely used in drug development and testing. Tree shrews are more closely related to primates than rodents. As such, we constructed a successful tree shrew model to establish and evaluate steroid-associated osteonecrosis (SAON). We found that low-dose lipopolysaccharide (LPS) combined with high-dose methylprednisolone (MPS) over 12 weeks could be used to establish a tree shrew model with femoral head necrosis. Serum biochemical and histological analyses showed that an ideal model was obtained. Thus, this work provides a useful animal model for the study of SAON and for the optimization of treatment methods.

Establishment of an osteoporosis model in tree shrews by bilateral ovariectomy and comprehensive evaluation.

Osteoporosis (OP) treatment has always been challenging for elderly menopausal females. An animal model with a closer genetic association to human OP is essential for treatment research. Given its close genetic association to primates, the tree shrew is a suitable candidate for meeting the requirements for such an animal model. In the present study, a tree shrew OP model induced by ovariectomy (OVX), was established. Evaluation by multiple analysis methods, including blood biochemical indicators, uterus coefficients, micro-computed tomography analysis, histochemical analysis and scanning electron microscopic observation indicated that OVX was an appropriate method to establish the OP model in tree shrews. In addition, the biomolecular characteristics of OVX-induced osteoporosis were also assessed by transcriptome sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. The present study provides the methods used to confirm the successful establishment of the OP model in tree shrew, and suggests that the OP model is appropriate for human OP research.

Alteration of bioaccumulation mechanisms of Cu by microalgae in the presence of natural fulvic acids.

The impact of natural fulvic acids (FAs) on the toxicity and bioaccumulation of Cu by Chlorella pyrenoidosa was studied. FAs extracted from Taihu Lake were separated into three fractions using dialysis bags: F1 (<500 Da), F2 (500-1000 Da) and F3 (>1000 Da). The results showed that the F3 fraction with a larger molecular weight contained less acidic groups and unsaturated aliphatic structures than F1 and F2, and it showed stronger alleviation of the toxicity of Cu to algae. In the presence of F1∼F3, the bioaccumulation curve of Cu in algae intersected with the straight line in the binary system of Cu-algae at approximately 5.3 × 10-3－6.0 × 10-3 mM of Cu equilibrium concentration, showing an inhibition of bioaccumulation of Cu in lower concentrations but an enhancement in higher Cu concentrations. The ratio of {Cu}ads/{Cu}int was used to clarify the transformation mechanism on adsorption; the transition interval occurred at a ratio of 3.5-4.4. This ratio indicated a shift from a mechanism of slow trending to equilibrium to a mechanism with rapid increase, which may be due to the bridging action of Cu to form a ternary complex of FA-Cu-algae and the occurrence of multilayer adsorption. The promotion order of F1> F3> F2 was consistent with percentages of the carboxyl group in total acidic functional groups in the FAs. This research is helpful for improving the accuracy of present models for the prediction of heavy metal risks in aqueous environments.