Silicate-based bioceramics regulating osteoblast differentiation through a BMP2 signalling pathway

Bioactive materials with osteostimulation properties have the potential to promote bone regeneration. We have found that silicate-based biomaterials have the osteostimulation ability for regeneration of large bone defects; however, the corresponding mechanism is unclear. In this study, we set out to elucidate the potential mechanism of silicate-based biomaterials with osteostimulation ability. A model silicate bioceramic, nagelschmidtite (NAGEL, Ca₇P₂Si₂O₁₆), was applied to study their ionic products on the effect of the Bone morphogenic protein (BMP) signaling pathway for osteoblast MC3T3-E1 as NAGEL has been previously shown to have excellent in vitro and in vivo bone-forming activity. BMP signaling, especially BMP2, is involved in bone formation during mammalian development and exhibits versatile regulatory functions in the body. It is found that NAGEL bioceramics significantly enhance the migration and osteoblastic differentiation of MC3T3-E1. mRNA and protein expression of BMP2 is enhanced by NAGEL bioceramics in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, NAGEL bioceramics activate the Smad-dependent BMP signaling pathway and induce the activation of the BMP downstream cascade (OCN, OPN and Runx2). The accumulation of phosphorylated-Smad1/5 is induced by NAGEL bioceramics in the MC3T3-E1 cell nucleus. It is further found that NAGEL bioceramic-mediated migration, osteoblastic differentiation and the activation of the BMP downstream cascade are significantly downregulated by inhibition of BMP2 activity. Our results suggest that silicate-based NAGEL bioceramics possess excellent in vitro osteostimulation properties and the possible mechanism of silicate-based biomaterials with distinct osteostimulation may be directly related to the activation of the BMP2 signaling pathway of osteoblasts by release of Si-containing bioactive ionic products.