Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B (Sep 2015)

Calycosin-7-O-β-d-glucopyranoside stimulates osteoblast differentiation through regulating the BMP/WNT signaling pathways

  • Jing Jian,
  • Lijuan Sun,
  • Xun Cheng,
  • Xiaofang Hu,
  • Jichao Liang,
  • Yong Chen

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsb.2015.06.005
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 5, no. 5
pp. 454 – 460

Abstract

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The isoflavone calycosin-7-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (CG) is a principal constituent of Astragalus membranaceus (AR) and has been reported to inhibit osteoclast development in vitro and bone loss in vivo. The aim of this study was to investigate the osteogenic effects of CG and its underlying mechanism in ST2 cells. The results show that exposure of cells to CG in osteogenic differentiation medium increases ALP activity, osteocalcin (Ocal) mRNA expression and the osteoblastic mineralization process. Mechanistically, CG treatment increased the expression of bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2), p-Smad 1/5/8, β-catenin and Runx2, all of which are regulators of the BMP- or wingless-type MMTV integration site family (WNT)/β-catenin-signaling pathways. Moreover, the osteogenic effects of CG were inhibited by Noggin and DKK-1 which are classical inhibitors of the BMP and WNT/β-catenin-signaling pathways, respectively. Taken together, the results indicate that CG promotes the osteoblastic differentiation of ST2 cells through regulating the BMP/WNT signaling pathways. On this basis, CG may be a useful lead compound for improving the treatment of bone-decreasing diseases and enhancing bone regeneration.

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