Study of the growth factor requirements of human bone-derived cells: a comparison with human fibroblasts

Recent techniques have been devised for the culture of bone cells derived from human bone explants. These cells, which are thought to represent several stages in the osteoblast lineage, respond to PTH with an increase in cyclic AMP content, and have high basal alkaline phosphatase activity which is increased on exposure to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and decreased by PTH. Such characteristics distinguish these cells from fibroblasts. In this study, we demonstrate that human bone-derived cells also differ from fibroblasts in their growth characteristics. Bone-derived cells proliferated in basal medium supplemented with platelet-poor plasma. The rate of proliferation was enhanced by additional supplementation with platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), and further increased when a combination of growth factors was added (PDGF, TGF-beta and EGF). In contrast, fibroblasts did not proliferate in basal medium supplemented with platelet-poor plasma and the addition of PDGF alone stimulated fibroblast proliferation to the same extent as 10% fetal bovine serum. Supplementation with other growth factors did not further enhance the response of fibroblasts to PDGF. These results emphasize the differences in proliferative responses between human bone-derived cells and human fibroblasts, and indicate that the factors responsible for osseous regeneration in vivo may differ from those factors which regulate repair of soft tissue wounds.