Effects of bone morphogenetic protein-2 on human tumor cell growth and differentiation: a preliminary report

The effects of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) on cell growth were studied in three human osteosarcoma cell lines, NOS-1, HuO9, and HuO-3N1; one human prostate cancer cell line, PC-3; and one human breast cancer cell line, OCUB-1M. The growth of these cell lines was not promoted by rhBMP-2 at concentrations of 50, 100, 250, and 500 ng/ml, as evaluated by colorimetric 3 (4,5-dimethyl-thiazol-2-yl)-2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Furthermore, the protein induced osteogenic differentiation, characterized by increased alkaline phosphatase activity, and increased production of type I collagen and gamma-carboxylated osteocalcin in NOS-1 cells. The results of this study may suggest the feasibility of using rhBMP-2 for the reconstruction of bone defects caused by malignant tumors, although the data are still preliminary and require further investigation.