Insulin-like growth factor-1 and bone morphogenetic protein-2 jointly mediate prostaglandin E2-induced adipogenic differentiation of rat tendon stem cells.

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Tendinopathy is characterized histopathologically by lipid accumulation and tissue calcification. Adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation of tendon stem cells (TSCs) are believed to play key roles in these processes. The major inflammatory mediator prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) has been shown to induce osteogenic differentiation of TSCs via bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2), and BMP-2 has also been implicated in adipogenic differentiation of stem cells. We therefore examined the mechanisms responsible for PGE2-induced adipogenesis in rat TSCs in vitro. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) mRNA and protein were significantly up-regulated in PGE2-stimulated TSCs, measured by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. Incubation with specific inhibitors of cAMP, cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA), and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-δ (CEBPδ) demonstrated that IGF-1 up-regulation occurred via a cAMP/PKA/CEBPδ pathway. Furthermore, neither IGF-1 nor BMP-2 alone was able to mediate adipogenic differentiation of TSCs, but IGF-1 together with BMP-2 significantly increased adipogenesis, indicated by Oil Red O staining. Moreover, knock-down of endogenous IGF-1 and BMP2 abolished PGE2-induced adipogenic differentiation. Phosphorylation of CREB and Smad by IGF-1 and BMP-2, respectively, were required for induction of

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

Browse all related research

Filter the research library by this study's title keywords, author, or publication year.