Dehydroepiandrosterone Stimulation of Osteoblastogenesis in Human MSCs Requires IGF-I Signaling

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is an adrenal steroid that circulates in high concentrations in humans in its sulfated form, DHEAS. Clinical and epidemiological studies suggested that low DHEAS levels may be associated with low bone mass. Previously, we and others showed that the effects of DHEA on the skeleton may be conferred partly by their ability to inhibit skeletal catabolic agents, for example, bone resorptive cytokine IL-6. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the anabolic effects of DHEA on osteoblastogenesis require IGF-I signaling pathways. Using both primary cultures and a cell line of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), we show that DHEA and other steroids stimulate osteoblastogenesis as shown by alkaline phosphatase activity and osteoblast gene induction. The stimulation by DHEA on both IGF-I gene expression and osteoblastogenesis in hMSCs requires IGF-I receptor, PI3K, p38 MAPK, or p42/44 MAPK signaling pathways. This study adds information to indicate that DHEA may be useful for treating bone diseases through its inhibition of skeletal catabolic IL-6 and stimulation of anabolic IGF-I-mediated mechanisms. J. Cell. Biochem. 117: 1769-1774, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.