Abstract: Objective: To investigate the induction effect of Tenascin-c (TN-C) on differentiation of human bone marrow stromal cells (hBMSCs) into osteoblasts. Methods: hBMSCs were obtained by the whole bone marrow culture method, and cells of passages 6~10 were used for all experiments. Human BMSCs were treated with different concentration of recombinant TN-C (0,1,10,50,100nmol/L) and osteogenic differentiation was detected by staining with Alizarin Red S. RT-PCR was performed to detect the mRNA levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and osteocalcin (OCN), ALP detection kits were used for the detection of ALP activity, and OCN radioactive immune kit was used for the determination of OCN content. Results: 1. Alizarin red staining showed that direct application of exogenous rTN-C dose-dependently triggered the differentiation and mineralization of osteoblasts; 2. rTN-C treatment significantly increased the ALP avtivity and OCN content, compared with control group. Conclusion: TN-C could induce the differentiation of human bone marrow stromal cells (hBMSCs) into osteoblasts.

Key words: Tenascin-c, human bone marrow stromal cells, osteoblasts, alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin