Effect of Total Saponins of Panax Notoginseng on Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 Expression and Alkaline Phosphatase Activity in Rat Bone Marrow Stromal Cells

Objective To study the effect of total saponins of panax notoginseng(PNS) on the expression of bone morphogenetic protein-2(BMP-2) and alkaline phosphates(ALP) activity in rat bone marrow stromal cells(BMSCs),and to elucidate the mechanism of PNS action on the proliferation of BMSCs during differentiation into osteoblasts.Methods After isolation and purification,rat BMSCs were induced in medium alone(control) or osteogenic medium containing different concentrations of PNS(50,100,150 and 200 mg·L-1).The proliferation of BMSCs was determined by MTT assay.The osteogenic differentiation was evaluated by ALP activity.BMP-2 expression was detected by Western blotting.Results There were no significant differences in the proliferation of BMSCs at 3 and 5 days after treatment among the different groups(P0.05).Compared with control group,the proliferation of BMSCs,BMP-2 expression and ALP activity were significantly increased by treatment with 50,100 or 150 mg·L-1PNS at 7 and 9 days after treatment(P0.05).However,no significant differences were found in cell proliferation,BMP-2 expression and ALP activity between 200 mg·L-1 PNS treatment group and control group(P0.05).Conclusion The PNS can promote the differentiation of BMSCs into osteoblasts through increasing BMP-2 expression and ALP activity.