Orthosilicic Acid Accelerates Bone Formation in Human Osteoblast-Like Cells Through the PI3K–Akt–mTOR Pathway

• Published in: Biological trace element research 2019-08, Vol.190 (2), p.327-335
• Main Authors: Zhou, Hongming, Jiao, Guangjun, Dong, Meng, Chi, Hai, Wang, Hongliang, Wu, Wenliang, Liu, Haichun, Ren, Shanwu, Kong, Meng, Li, Ci, Zhang, Lu, Chen, Yunzhen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 1-Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase; Acids; AKT protein; Alkaline phosphatase; Animal diseases; Animal research; Biochemistry; Biocompatibility; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedical materials; Biotechnology; Bone density; Bone diseases; Bone growth; Bones; Cbfa-1 protein; Collagen; Collagen (type I); Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; ELISA; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Enzymes; Humans; Immunofluorescence; Kinases; Life Sciences; Mechanical properties; Molecular modelling; Nutrition; Oncology; Osteoblasts - drug effects; Osteoblasts - metabolism; Osteocalcin; Osteogenesis; Osteogenesis - drug effects; Osteoporosis; Phosphatase; Phosphates; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases - metabolism; Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-diphosphate; Procollagen; Proteins; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt - metabolism; Rapamycin; Signal Transduction - drug effects; Silicic Acid - pharmacology; Silicon; Silicon - pharmacology; Structure-Activity Relationship; TOR protein; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases - metabolism; Trace elements; Transcription; Tumor Cells, Cultured
• ISSN: 0163-4984; 1559-0720
• DOI: 10.1007/s12011-018-1574-9

Silicon is one of the essential trace elements in the human body; the deficiency of which may lead to bone diseases. Numerous animal experiments have shown that an appropriate increase in the intake of silicon is beneficial to enhancing bone density and toughness to prevent osteoporosis. However, the molecular mechanisms of the silicon-mediated osteogenesis process have not been sufficiently clarified. In this study, we determined the possible osteogenesis-related mechanisms of orthosilicic acid at a molecular level. We detected the relevant pathway and osteogenic indicators by immunofluorescence (IF), Western blot, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining (using 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl phosphate/nitro blue tetrazolium [BCIP/NBT]), ALP enzyme labeling method, osteocalcin (OCN), and N -terminal propeptide of type 1 procollagen (P1NP) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We found that orthosilicic acid is capable of enhancing the expression of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase (PI3K), phospho-protein kinase B (P-Akt), phospho-mammalian target of rapamycin (P-mTOR), and related osteogenic markers (runt-related transcription factor 2 [RUNX2], type I collagen [COL1], ALP, OCN, and P1NP). However, with the addition of PI3K–Akt–mTOR pathway-specific inhibitor LY294002, the expression of PI3K, P-Akt, P-mTOR, RUNX2, COL1, ALP, OCN, and P1NP decreased. The results indicated that the PI3K–Akt–mTOR pathway played a positive regulatory role in the process of orthosilicic acid–mediated osteogenesis in vitro.