The effect of bone-related growth factors on the proliferation and differentiation of marrow mesenchymal stem cells in vitro]

To investigate the effect of dexamethasone, recombinant human fibroblast growth factor (rhFGF) and recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 2 (rhBMP-2) on the proliferation and differentiation of marrow stromal stem cells (MSCs) for their further application in tissue engineering.MSCs were isolated and cultured in vitro, and then exposed to different dose of dexamethasone (10(-8) mol/l, 10(-7) mol/L, 10(-6) mol/L), rhFGF (50 ng/ml, 200 ng/ml, 500 ng/ml) and rhBMP-2 (50 ng/ml, 500 ng/ml, 1000 ng/ml) respectively. The total protein and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity of each group was measured on 4th and 7th day.Exposure of MSCs with 10(-6) mol/L dexamethasone inhibited protein synthesis without obvious effects on ALP expression. The application of rhFGF significantly promoted cell proliferation but inhibited ALP activity. In comparison, ALP expression was significantly enhanced by treatment of rhBMP-2 at concentration of 500 ng/ml, 1000 ng/ml.The exposure of dexamethasone as well as rhBMP-2 to MSCs with an appropriate concentration promotes osteogenic expression without reverse effects on cell proliferation, which indicates the great potential value in cell-based strategy of bone tissue engineering.