β-ecdysone promotes osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells
Abstract
BACKGROUND: β-ecdysone (βEcd) has numerous pharmacological effects, although its role in the osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) has not yet been explored. METHODS: In cell experiments, BMSCs were induced to differentiate by osteogenic induction medium (OIM) or βEcd. In animal experiments, an osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) rat model was established using lipopolysaccharide plus methylprednisolone and treating the rats with βEcd. The osteogenic differentiation capacity of human BMSCs (hBMSCs) was analyzed by alkaline phosphatase and alizarin red S staining. Histopathological changes in rat femoral head tissues were observed by hematoxylin and eosin staining. The expression levels of RUNX2, COL1A1, OCN and phosphorylated Akt in BMSCs from rat femoral head tissues were measured by a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction or western blot analysis. RESULTS: Alkaline phosphatase activity and calcium nodules in the βEcd-treated BMSC group dose-dependently increased compared to those in the control and OIM groups. The hematoxylin and eosin staining results indicated that femoral head tissues of ONFH rats showed typical osteonecrosis, which could be ameliorated by βEcd. Western blot, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry assays demonstrated that the expression levels of RUNX2, COL1A1 and OCN in hBMSCs and femoral head tissue models were obviously increased after βEcd treatment, and phosphoinositide 3-kinase and Akt phosphorylation were also increased. CONCLUSIONS: βEcd may be beneficial for the recovery of ONFH patients by accelerating osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs, which may be a novel therapy for related diseases.
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RUNX2, COLIA1, osteocalcin, IP3-kinase, and Akt phosphorylation were increased in the in vitro and in vivo systems.
“Parallel to the osteogenic transcription factor RUNX2, collagen chain COLIA1, osteocalcin, the IP3-kinase, and Akt phosphorylation were also increased in the in vitro and in vivo systems [40].”
From Molecular Targets of 20-Hydroxyecdysone in Mammals, Mechanism of Action: Is It a Calorie Restriction Mimetic and Anti-Aging Compound? (2025) · cites this paper as [40]
20E increased osteogenic markers in bone marrow stem cells when differentiated and ameliorated experimentally induced osteonecrosis in the rat model by enlarging femoral head tissue size.
“In addition, 20E increased osteogenic markers in these cells when differentiated and ameliorated experimentally induced osteonecrosis in the rat model by enlarging femoral head tissue size.”
From Molecular Targets of 20-Hydroxyecdysone in Mammals, Mechanism of Action: Is It a Calorie Restriction Mimetic and Anti-Aging Compound? (2025) · cites this paper as [40]
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The role of post-translational modifications in osteonecrosis of the femoral head
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- Authors
- You, W., & Xu, Z.
- Affiliations
- The First People’s Hospital of Lianyungang (CN)
- Department of Pharmacy Xinghua City People's Hospitafl Xinghua City Jiangsu Province China
- Corresponding author
- You, Wei‐Li
- ORCID
- You, Wei‐Li
- Venue
- The Journal of Gene Medicine
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2020-05-21
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- e3207-e3207
- ISSN
- 1099-498X (ISSN-L)
- 1521-2254
- OpenAlex
- W3022874954
- Cited by
- 11
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 1.25
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Gene Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Bone and Joint Diseases
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Genetics › Mesenchymal stem cell research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Bone Metabolism and Diseases
- Keywords
- 20-hydroxyecdysone, osteogenic differentiation, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, osteonecrosis of the femoral head, Runx2, COL1A1, osteocalcin, Akt phosphorylation, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, alkaline phosphatase, alizarin red S
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Cell Differentiation, Ecdysterone, Femur Head, Humans, Lipopolysaccharides, Methylprednisolone, Osteogenesis, Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation, Cell Proliferation, Rats, Mesenchymal Stem Cells
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