Icariin promotes the proliferation of human periosteum cells and the underlying mechanism / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Periosteal cells are precursors of osteoblasts and chondrocytes. Some studies have reported that bone morphogenetic protein-7 can be used to induce periosteal cell proliferation, but limited by the high cost. Phytoestrogen icariin-induced periosteal cell proliferation has provided a new direction for tissue engineering. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of icariin on the proliferation of human periosteum cells and to analyze the underlying mechanism. METHODS:Human periosteal cells were cultured in vitro and seeded to the 24-well plate with the concentration of 103/well after third passage. Cell proliferation test: the cells were cultured in the cell culture medium (control group), or the culture medium containing different concentrations of icariin (10-1, 10-2and 10-3mg/L). Proliferation mechanism test: the cells were cultured in the cell culture medium (control group), or the culture medium containing different concentrations of icariin (10-1, 10-2and 10-3mg/L) plus estrogen receptor antagonist ICI182.780. The cell proliferation in each test was detected by MTT assay at 1, 2 and 3 days of culture. The effects of different concentrations of icariin on the levels of estrogen receptor α and β proteins in the periosteal cells were detected by western blot assay. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The proliferation of human periosteum cells in vitro was successful,and icariin with the concentrations of 10-1, 10-2and 10-3mg/L could significantly the cell proliferation (P < 0.05). However, this effect was blocked after ICI182780 addition (P < 0.05), and the levels of estrogen receptor α and β were upregulated. To conclude, icariin can enhance the proliferation of periosteal cells probably by upregualting the expression of estrogen receptor α and β.