Osteogenic differentiation potential of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells enhanced by bacoside-A

Stem cell therapy is growing rapidly to treat numerous diseases including bone-associated diseases. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are most commonly preferred to treat bone diseases because it possesses high osteogenic potency. Though, to obtain maximum osteogenic efficiency of MSCs is challenging. Therefore, this study was planned to evaluate the osteogenic efficiency of human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) by bacoside-A. This study was investigated the activity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and expressions of the genes specific to osteogenic regulation mainly runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2), osterix (Osx), osteocalcin (OCN) and collagen type Iα1 (Col I α1) in hBMSCs cultured under osteogenic conditions at different concentrations of bacoside-A for 14 days. The results of this study depicted significant upregulation in the activity of ALP and expressions of osteogenic regulator genes in bacoside-A treated cells when compared with control cells. Besides, expressions of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) and Wnt/β-catenin were evaluated; these expressions were also significantly increased in bacoside-A treated cells when compared with control cells. This result provides a further supporting evidence of bacoside-A role on osteogenesis in hBMSCs. The present study suggest that bacoside-A will be applied to ameliorate the process of osteogenesis in hBMSCs to repair damaged bone structure during MSC-based therapy; this will be an excellent and auspicious treatment for bone-associated disorders including osteoporosis. Significance of the study Osteoporosis is a bone metabolic disorder characterized by an imbalance between the activity of osteoblastic bone formation and osteoclastic bone resorption that disrupts the bone microarchitecture. Current anti-osteoporotic drugs are inhibiting bone resorption, but they are unable to restore the bone structure due to extreme bone remodelling process and causes numerous side effects. The finding of natural bioactive compounds with osteogenic property is very essential for osteoporosis treatment. This study was reported that bacoside-A ameliorated osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs through upregulation of osteogenic differentiation genes and Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway. This result is indicating that bacoside-A may be useful for osteoporosis treatments.