Abstract
This study was aimed to investigate whether osteoblasts from diabetic patients have a promoting effect on osteogenesis of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (HUMSCs). HUMSCs were co-cultured with osteoblasts of diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Morphological appearance and cytochemical characteristics of the non-diabetic osteoblasts and diabetic osteoblasts were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining, type I collagen protein expression, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining and Alizarin Red S staining. Cell viability, type I collagen protein expression, ALP activity and osteocalcin mRNA expression in HUMSCs were investigated. Compared with negative control group, the cell proliferation, type I collagen protein expression, ALP activity and osteocalcin mRNA were increased in HUMSCs co-cultured with diabetic and non-diabetic osteoblasts (P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the HUMSCs cell proliferation, type I collagen protein expression, ALP activity and osteocalcin mRNA between the non-diabetic and diabetic group (P >0.05). Similar to osteoblasts from non-diabetic patients, osteoblasts from diabetic patients also have the ability to promote HUMSCs proliferation, and leading to HUMSCs exhibit some characteristic of osteoblasts.
Highlights
Diabetes mellitus compromises the quality of bones and leads to a greater risk of bone fracture[1] Once a fracture has occurred, healing is delayed in patients with diabetes[2] The slower bone repair in diabetics is a consequence of a deficient function of osteoblasts[3] Impaired bone and wound healing represents a major clinical problem in patients with diabetes[4] it is important to explore novel modalities to facilitate fracture healing in diabetics.Recently, cell therapy with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has been trialed to treat chronic wounds in diabetics[5,6,7]
Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity was less detectable in negative control group which untreated with osteoblasts, further supporting that osteoblasts promote osteoblastic differentiation of the human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (HUMSCs)
A recent study reported that co-cultures with more osteoblasts exhibited higher levels of osteogenic gene expression, such as OCN. Consistent with this result, our studies showed that OCN increased on day 21 in non-diabetic group and diabetic group with no significant difference between them, but there was no OCN expression in negative control group which was not treated with osteoblasts
Summary
Diabetes mellitus compromises the quality of bones and leads to a greater risk of bone fracture[1] Once a fracture has occurred, healing is delayed in patients with diabetes[2] The slower bone repair in diabetics is a consequence of a deficient function of osteoblasts[3] Impaired bone and wound healing represents a major clinical problem in patients with diabetes[4] it is important to explore novel modalities to facilitate fracture healing in diabetics.Recently, cell therapy with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has been trialed to treat chronic wounds in diabetics[5,6,7]. There is growing evidence that Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells (HUMSCs) exhibit pluripotent lineage differentiation potential[10]. This may be an alternative source of MSCs which can be obtained by a simple, safe and painless procedure when the baby is delivered. Compared with negative control group, the cell proliferation, type I collagen protein expression, ALP activity and osteocalcin mRNA were increased in HUMSCs co-cultured with diabetic and non-diabetic osteoblasts (P0.05). Similar to osteoblasts from non-diabetic patients, osteoblasts from diabetic patients have the ability to promote HUMSCs proliferation, and leading to HUMSCs exhibit some characteristic of osteoblasts
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