Differentiation of human osteoblast-like SaOS-2 cells

Objective To observe the course of induction of human osteoblast-like SaOS-2 cells.Methods Differentation of human osteoblast-like SaOS-2 cells was induced.The change of osteoblast phenotype was observed by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and alizarin red staining,and the difference in the osteocalcin (OC) expression was analyzed by using realtime-PCR technique during the induction of SaOS-2 cells.Results The IA values of ALP activity on the day 0,3,6,9 of osteoblast differentiation were 163 547.0 ±847.7,236 090.0 ±967.6,28 194.9 ± 185.0,and 11665.2 ± 151.0 respectively.The IA values of ALP activity on the day 3 were significantly higher than those on the day 0,6,9 of osteoblast differentiation(P ＜ 0.05).Many mineralization nodules were seen on the day 9 of osteoblast differentiation.Realtime quantitative polymerase chain reaction revealed that the expression level of OC gene in SaOS-2 cells was significantly higher on the day 6 and 9 of osteoblast differentiation than on the day 0 and 3 (P ＜0.01).Conclusion SaOS-2 cells can be induced into mature osteoblasts. Key words: Osteoblast-like SaOS-2 cells; Osteoblast differentiation; Osteocalcin