Gastrodin promotes osteogenic differentiation by stimulating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway

Osteoporosis is a common disease that can lead to fracture as well as various skeletal symptoms and is a global health problem. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) may offer novel approaches for treating osteoporosis. Our study aimed to investigate the osteogenic potential and underlying mechanisms of gastrodin in promoting osteogenic differentiation.

By combining network pharmacology and bioinformatics, we conducted experiments to inspect cell viability, Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) viability, and Alizarin red staining (ARS) and investigate the expression profiles of genes and proteins relevant to osteogenesis, including β-catenin, Runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2), Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor-Related Protein 5 (LRP5) and Glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK-3β). Statistical analysis was used for validation.

Network pharmacology and bioinformatics analyses revealed that gastrodin might influence osteogenic differentiation. The experimental results revealed that gastrodin had no toxic effects and was able to promote ALP activity and stimulate osteogenic differentiation of Mouse Calvaria-derived Osteoblastic Cell Line. (MC3T3-E1) cells. Subsequent network pharmacology and bioinformatics studies revealed that gastrodin might affect osteogenic differentiation through the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. The results revealed that gastrodin influenced osteogenic differentiation genes and protein expression, including the upregulation of β-catenin, Runx2, and LRP5 and the downregulation of GSK-3β, and Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) inhibited its promotion.

Gastrodin enhances the Wingless (Wnt)/β-catenin signaling pathway by increasing β-catenin accumulation and nuclear migration as well as decreasing GSK-3β, which increases Runx2 expression, consequently encouraging MC3T3-E1 cell osteogenic differentiation, and may be applied as a potential drug for osteoporosis therapy and prevention.