Abstract:
Background Denosumab is a RANKL inhibitor, which can inhibit osteoclasts. Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) have the ability of osteogenic differentiation. Whether the combination of the two can be used in the treatment of femoral head necrosis is still uncertain.
Objective To investigate the effects of denosumab on the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of hUC-MSCs.
Methods hUC-MSCs were cultured and the third generation of hUC-MSCs with good growth condition were used for experiment. The cultured cells treated with hUC-MSCs osteogenic differentiation induction medium containing various concentrations of denosumab (0.6 mg/mL, 0.06 mg/mL, 0.006 mg/mL) were served as experimental group and the cultured cells treated with hUC-MSCs osteogenic differentiation induction medium without denosumab as the control group. CCK-8 assay was used to detect the proliferation activity of different groups of cells. Alizarin red staining and alkaline phosphatase staining were used to detect the osteogenic differentiation ability of each group. The mRNA expression levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), zinc finger structural transcription factor (OSX), type Ⅰ collagenase (COL-Ⅰ) and Runt-associated transcription factor 2 (RUNX-2) were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR).
Results By flow cytometry identification, hUC-MSCs could express the surface marker proteins of stem cells, and hUC-MSCs had the ability of three-line differentiation. Compared with the control group, different concentrations of denosumab (0.6 mg/mL, 0.06 mg/mL, 0.006 mg/mL) promoted the proliferation of hUC-MSCs, and the results were statistically significant (P<0.05). When the concentration of denosumab was 0.006 mg/mL, the expression levels of ALP/OSX/COL-I/ RUNX-2 were higher than those of the control group (P<0.05). Osteogenic differentiation potential of hUC-MSCs treated by denosumab (0.006 mg/mL) was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.05); With the increase of concentration, the osteogenic differentiation potential decreased, which was lower than that of the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05).
Conclusion Denosumab (0.006 mg/mL) can promote the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of hUC-MSCs, while high concentrations of denosumab (0.6 mg/mL, 0.06 mg/mL) can inhibit the osteogenic differentiation of hUC-MSCs.