The differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells towards an osteoblastic fate depends on numerous signaling pathways, including activation of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling components. Commitment to osteogenesis is associated with activation of osteoblast-related signal transduction, whereas inactivation of this signal transduction favors adipogenesis. BMP signaling also has a critical role in the processes by which mesenchymal stem cells undergo commitment to the adipocyte lineage. In our previous study, we demonstrated that an agonist of the perioxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), a master regulator of adipocyte differentiation, stimulates osteoblastic differentiation of cultured human periosteum-derived cells. In this study, we used dorsomorphin, a selective small molecule inhibitor of BMP signaling, to investigate whether BMP signaling is involved in the positive effects of PPARγ agonists on osteogenic phenotypes of cultured human periosteum-derived cells. Both histochemical detection and bioactivity of ALP were clearly increased in the periosteum-derived cells treated with the PPARγ agonist at day 10 of culture. Treatment with the PPARγ agonist also caused an increase in alizarin red S staining and calcium content in the periosteum-derived osteoblasts at 2 and 3 weeks of culture. In contrast, dorsomorphin markedly decreased ALP activity, alizarin red S staining and calcium content in both the cells treated with PPARγ agonist and the cells cultured in osteogenic induction media without PPARγ agonist during the culture period. In addition, the PPARγ agonist clearly increased osteogenic differentiation medium-induced BMP-2 upregulation in the periosteum-derived osteoblastic cells at 2 weeks of culture as determined by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), immunoblotting, and immunocytochemical analyses. Although further study will be needed to clarify the mechanisms of PPARγ-regulated osteogenesis, our results suggest that the positive effects of a PPARγ agonist on the osteogenic phenotypes of cultured human periosteum-derived cells seem to be dependent on BMP signaling.
Keywords: BMP signaling; Osteoblastic differentiation; PPARγ agonist; Periosteum-derived cells.