Methods From January 2011 to May 2012, a total of 16 AIS patients (14 females, 2 males) were recruited in the study, with age from 11 to 17 years. All patients received posterior spinal fusion and instrumentation, as well as thoracoplasty. Trabecular bone chips from ribs, lamina and iliac crest were harvested in each patient intraoperatively for osteoblast culture. P2 cells were used for the ex...

Statins, drugs commonly used to lower serum cholesterol, have been shown to stimulate osteoblast differentiation and bone formation. Statins inhibit 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl (HMG)-coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR), the first step of the isoprenoid biosynthetic pathway, leading to the depletion of the isoprenoids farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) and geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP). The effects of s...

Our laboratory and others have shown that overexpression of Dlx5 stimulates osteoblast differentiation. Dlx5(-/-)/Dlx6(-/-) mice have more severe craniofacial and limb defects than Dlx5(-/-), some of which are potentially due to defects in osteoblast maturation. We wished to investigate the degree to which other Dlx genes compensate for the lack of Dlx5, thus allowing normal development of the ...

Nanofiber scaffolds and bio-ceramic nanoparticles have been widely used in bone tissue engineering. The use of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) on this scaffold can be considered as a new approach in the differentiation of bone tissue. In the present study, a polyaniline-gelatin-polycaprolactone (PANi-GEL-PCL) composite nanoscaffold was made by electrospinning and modified superfic...

Osteoporosis (OP) is characterized by a decrease in osteoblasts and an increase adipocytes the bone marrow compartment, alongside abnormal bone/fat differentiation, which ultimately results imbalanced homeostasis. Bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) can differentiate into to maintain Several studies have shown that lncRNAs are competitive endogenous RNAs form lncRNA–miRNA network targeting miRN...

The Wnt/β-catenin pathway has a role in osteoblast differentiation and bone formation. We screened 100 plant extracts and identified an extract from Euodia sutchuenensis Dode (ESD) leaf and young branch as an effective activator of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. ESD extract increased β-catenin levels and β-catenin nuclear accumulation in murine primary osteoblasts. The ESD extract also increased mR...

A screen of microRNAs preferentially expressed in osteoblasts identified members of the miR-34 family as regulators of osteoblast proliferation and/or differentiation. Osteoblast-specific gain- and loss-of-function experiments performed in vivo revealed that miR-34b and -c affected skeletogenesis during embryonic development, as well as bone mass accrual after birth, through two complementary c...

Obesity and osteoarthritis (OA) form a vicious circle in which obesity contributes to cartilage destruction in OA, and OA-associated sedentary behaviour promotes weight gain. Lipocalin-2 (LCN2), a novel adipokine with catabolic activities in OA joints, contributes to the obesity and OA pathologies and is associated with other OA risk factors. LCN2 is highly induced in osteoblasts in the absence...

BACKGROUND Ischemia-reperfusion of bone occurs in a variety of clinical conditions, such as orthopedic arthroplasty, plastic gnathoplasty, spinal surgery, and amputation. Usually, cellular models of hypoxia-reoxygenation reflect in vivo models of ischemia-reperfusion. With respect to hypoxia-reoxygenation conditions, the effects of remifentanil on osteogenesis have received little attention. Th...

Since 3D printed hard materials could match the shape of bone, cell survival and fate determination towards osteoblasts in such have become a popular research target. In this study, scaffold material for fabrication was designed to regulate developmental signal (Notch) transduction guiding osteoblast differentiation. We established polycaprolactone (PCL) cell-integrated printing system (PCI3D) ...