Insulin promotes the osteogenic differentiation of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: How to effectively and rapidly induce the osteogenic differentiation of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells is the focus of the current stem cell research. Increasing evidence has demonstrated some growth factors, such as bone morphogenetic protein-2, have important effects on the transdifferentiation of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cels into osteoblasts in vitro. However, widespread use of growth factors is limited because of high cost. Insulin is widely used in the cell culture and induction, but there is no report about the effect of insulin on the osteogenic differentiation of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells. OBJECTIVE:To observe the effect of insulin on osteogenic differentiation of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cels and to explore the feasibility of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell transplantation in the treatment of diabetic delayed fracture healing. METHODS:The passage 3 human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells were inoculated in two flasks, denoted as experimental group and control group. The insulin (10-7mmol/L) was added to the experimental group but not to the control group. The proliferative capacity of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cels was evaluated by cell count kit-8 and alkaline phosphatase activity. The osteogenic differentiation capacity of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells was evaluated by measuring the protein and mRNA expressions of type I colagen as well as osteocalcin mRNA level. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: After 1-2 weeks of induction, compared with the control group, insulin could significantly increase the number of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in the experimental group, the activity of alkaline phosphatase and expressions of type I collagen osteocalcin mRNA (P< 0.05). These data indicate that insulin can promote the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells.