Effects of the ferroptosis inducer erastin on osteogenic differentiation and biological pathways of primary osteoblasts

ABSTRACT

Background

Periodontitis is a chronic destructive inflammatory disease exacerbated by osteoblast dysfunction. Ferroptosis has emerged as a significant factor that could contribute to the pathological changes observed in periodontitis. However, the impact of ferroptosis on osteogenic differentiation and gene expression patterns of primary osteoblasts remain elusive.

Methods

In this study, osteoblasts were osteogenically induced for specific durations with and without the ferroptosis inducer erastin. Subsequently, cell proliferation, ferroptosis-related molecules, and osteogenic differentiation capacity were assessed. Furthermore, the differences in transcriptome expression following erastin treatment were analyzed by RNA sequencing.

Results

The results demonstrated that erastin treatment induced ferroptosis, resulting in suppressed cell proliferation and impaired osteogenic differentiation. Transcriptomic analysis revealed significant alterations in processes such as hydrogen peroxide catabolism, response to lipid peroxidation, and metal iron binding, as well as BMP receptor activity and collagen type XI trimer.

Conclusion

The ferroptosis inducer erastin inhibited osteoblast proliferation and differentiation. Our study provides novel insights into the effect of ferroptosis on osteogenesis, suggesting that targeting ferroptosis may present a promising approach in the treatment of periodontitis.

KEYWORDS:

• Ferroptosis
• erastin
• osteogenic differentiation
• RNA sequencing
• periodontitis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors’ contributions

Jiaqi Bao and Lili Chen designed the research; Jiaqi Bao and Xufei Yu performed the research; Jiaqi Bao, Yuting Yang, and Weilian Sun analyzed the data; Jiaqi Bao and Zhongxiu Wang wrote the manuscript.

Consent for publication

All authors agree to publish.

Data presentation

All data analyzed during this study are included in the published article.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/03008207.2024.2338348.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by grant of National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 82170954, 82301066] and the Medical Science and Technology Project of Zhejiang Province [2024KY1064].