Crocin promotes osteogenesis differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells

• Published in: In vitro cellular & developmental biology. Animal Vol. 56; no. 8; pp. 680 - 688
• Main Authors: Li, Borui, Qin, Kairong, Wang, Benjie, Liu, Baoyi, Yu, Weiting, Li, Zhigang, Zhao, Dewei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer Science & Business Media LLC 01-09-2020; Springer US; Society for In Vitro Biology
• Subjects: Alizarin; Alkaline phosphatase; Animal Genetics and Genomics; Animal models; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedical materials; Bone marrow; Calcium; Cbfa-1 protein; Cell Biology; Cell Culture; Collagen (type I); Developmental Biology; Differentiation; Femur; Life Sciences; Lipopolysaccharides; Mesenchymal stem cells; Methylprednisolone; Nodules; Osteogenesis; Osteonecrosis; Phosphorylation; Polymerase chain reaction; Staining; Stem cell transplantation; STEM CELLS; Steroids; Tissues; Osteogenesis differentiation; Steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head; Phosphorylated glycogen synthase kinase-3β; Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells; Crocin
• ISSN: 1071-2690; 1543-706X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11626-020-00487-w

Crocin has plentiful pharmacological effects, but its role in osteogenesis differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) is unexplored. This study explored the effect of crocin on osteogenesis differentiation, in order to provide evidence for its clinical application. In cell experiments, human BMSCs (hBMSCs) were induced by osteogenesis differentiation medium or crocin. In animal experiments, steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (SANFH) rat models was established using lipopolysaccharide (LPS) plus methylprednisolone (MPS), and then treated with crocin. The osteogenesis differentiation capacity of hBMSCs was analyzed by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and alizarin red S staining. Histopathological changes in rat femoral head tissues were observed by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. The expression levels of RUNX2, COL1A1, OCN, and GSK-3β in hBMSCs and rat femoral head tissues were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) or western blot (WB) analysis. ALP and alizarin red S staining demonstrated that LAP activity and calcium nodules were increased in hBMSCs treated with crocin. From H&E staining results, femoral head tissues of SANFH models showed typical osteonecrosis, which could be ameliorated by crocin. WB and qRT-PCR assays detected that the expression levels of RUNX2, COL1A1, and OCN in hBMSCs and femoral head tissues of models were obviously increased after crocin treatment, while GSK-3β phosphorylation was reduced. In general, the action of crocin was concentration-dependent. Crocin might be beneficial to the recovery of SANFH through accelerating osteogenesis differentiation of BMSCs, which might be a novel therapy for related diseases.