Effects of Genistein and Zinc on Osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 Cells

Objective: To observe the effect of different concentrations of genistein and zinc on cell proliferation and alkaline phosphatase(ALP) activity and bone morphogenetic protein-2(BMP-2) expression of osteoblast MC3T3-E1 cells and to investigate whether the combination of zinc and genistein has additive effects on the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.Method: The effect of different concentrations of genistein and zinc on proliferation of MC3T3-E1 cells was measured by MTT assay.The expression of BMP-2 was detected by Western blotting assay.Colorimetric method was employed to detect the activity of ALP.Results: The MC3T3-E1 cell proliferation was significantly increased in the presence of zinc and genistein.Genistein promoted MC3T3-E1 cells growth in a time and dose-dependent manner and the rate of cell proliferation was 160.1±14.3 % when the cells treated with 1 × 10-5 mol/L genistein and 1 × 10-5mol/Lzinc for 72 h.The ALP content and the expression ofBMP-2 in cells treated with genistein were increased in a time and dose-dependent manner.After treatment with Genistein and zinc,the activity levels of ALP and BMP-2 expression were increased more obviously than in the groups treated with genistein or zinc alone.Conclusion: The combination of zinc and genistein displayed the effects of estrogen.By promoting the synthesis of bone morphogenetic protein,it promotes the proliferation of osteoblast cells.