Osteogenic response of human adipose-derived stem cells to BMP-6, VEGF, and combined VEGF plus BMP-6 in vitro

Abstract

Exogenous addition of three factors—mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs)—has proven to be more beneficial than delivery of any single factor for fracture repair in animal models. We studied the osteogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived stem cells (hADSCs) in the presence of VEGF, BMP-6, or VEGF plus BMP-6 to better understand their enhancement of osteoblastic differentiation of MSCs. The VEGF plus BMP-6 group demonstrated an additive effect on the enhancement of mineralization and expression of ALP and Msx2 genes. Unlike VEGF or BMP-6 alone, the combination of VEGF and BMP-6 significantly enhanced the expression of COL1A1, osterix, and Dlx5 genes. The data indicate that a cross-talk between VEGF and BMP-6 signaling pathways enhances osteogenic differentiation of hADSCs.

Keywords::

• Mesenchymal stem cells
• VEGF
• BMP-6
• osteogenesis
• bone repair

Declaration of interest: The study was funded by research grants from the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF), USA and the Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation (MTF), USA to QC. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.