Biphasic effects of leukemia inhibitory factor on osteoblastic differentiation

Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is a cytokine produced by multiple cell types including osteoblasts and which is active on bone metabolism. We have previously shown that in a bone nodule forming in vitro model of osteogenesis, the fetal rat calvaria (RC) cell model, LIF inhibits osteoblast differentiation, acting on late osteoprogenitors and/or early osteoblasts. These results are in contrast to in vivo experiments, in which LIF has been found to increase bone formation. To resolve this discrepancy, we have tested the effect of LIF on rat bone marrow (RBM) stromal cell cultures, an in vitro model encompassing earlier osteoprogenitor stages. LIF inhibited cell growth in early, proliferating RBM cultures, but increased the culture saturation density. The effect of LIF on bone nodule formation in this model was cell density dependent and biphasic. Continuous treatment with LIF reduced the number of bone nodules present in confluent, more mature cultures, and the inhibitory effect was strongest when cells were plated at higher cell density than lower. In contrast, during the early stages of RBM culture, nodule numbers were higher in LIF-treated dishes than in controls, and this effect was greater in lower density cultures. Acute LIF treatment restricted to early time points increased the final number of bone nodules formed in mature RBM cell cultures, but not in RC cell cultures. Our results indicate that LIF exerts complex, stage-specific effects on osteoprogenitor recruitment, differentiation, and bone formation, and that the effects are cell nonautonomous, in the rat bone marrow stromal cell model. J. Cell. Biochem. Suppl. 36: 63-70, 2001.