Influence of Novel Nano-Mesoporous Bioactive Glass on the Regulation of IGF-II Gene Expression in Osteoblasts

To investigate whether the mesoporous bioactive glass (MBG) exerts any in vitro bioactivity on rat osteoblasts and the potential regulatory mechanism of this bioactivity. Rat osteoblasts were incubated in the presence and absence (control) of ionic dissolution product of MBG in minimal essential medium. The osteoblast proliferation and differentiation were measured using MTT and alkaline phosphatase methods. The IGF-II mRNA expression in osteoblasts was measured by RT-PCR. IGF-II protein and IGFBP were measured by ELISA. The level of alkaline phosphatase activity was increased to 125% of control. Expression of IGF-II mRNA was increased to 125% of control. There was a 175 and 237% increase in the concentration of unbound IGF-II protein and IGFBP, respectively, in the conditioned media of treated osteoblasts. The osteoblast proliferation was 92% of control. The ionic dissolution product of MBG was able to promote the differentiation of osteoblasts, probably by inducing IGF-II expression at both mRNA and protein level.