Effects of metformin on osteoclasts differentiation in vitro / 中华骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effects of mefformin on the differentiation of osteoclastas well as relative mechanism.Methods Raw264.7 cells from the murine macrophage cell line was used.Receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) was used to stimulate osteoclast differentiation from Raw264.7 cells.Osteoclast differentiation was assessed by tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) and actin fluorescence staining and counting the TRAP-positive cells after exposure to different concentrations of mefformin (0 μmol/L,400 μmol/L,800 μmol/L and 1000 μmol/L) or rapamicin (100 nmol/L) in the presence of 50 ng/ml RANKL for 5 days.Bone-resorbing activity was evaluated by BD BioCoatTM OsteologicTM Bone Cell Culture System.The expression of osteoclast-specific genes like TRAP,capthesin K,calcitonin receptor (CTR) and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-9) was evaluated by RT-PCR.The expression of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-ct) S6K1Thr389,S6 Ser235/236,4E-BP1Thr37/46 and c-Fos protein was evaluated by ELISA kit and Western blot analysis,respectively.Results Mefformin dose-dependently inhibited RANKL-stimulated osteoclasts differentiation in Raw264.7 cell culture,as manifested by decrease of TRAP-positive multinucleated cells and pit erosion area,down-regulation of TRAP,cathepsin K,CTR and MMP-9 mRNA and reduction of TNF-α and c-Fos protein expression.Further study revealed that RANKL activated mTOR complex 1(mTORC1) signaling,while mefformin impaired RANKL-stimulated mTORC1 signaling.Rapamycin,an mTORCl-specific inhibitor and immunosuppressive macrolides could also prevent RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation and bone resorption in vitro.Conclusion Mefformin inhibits osteoclastogenesis in vitro,which may due to reduction of TNF-α and c-Fos protein expression,and mTORC1 signaling is involved in this process.