Prostaglandins (PGs) are well known to be important local factors in regulating bone formation and resorption. PGE2 is a potent stimulator of bone resorption because of enhancing osteoclast formation by its indirect action through stromal cells. However, the direct action of PGE2 on functionally mature osteoclasts is still controversial. In this study using highly purified rabbit mature osteoclasts, we examined the direct effect of PGE2 on osteoclastic bone-resorbing activity and its mechanism. PGE2 inhibited resorption pit formation on a dentine slice by the purified osteoclasts in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The inhibitory effect appeared as early as 4 hours after the PGE2 addition. Forskolin and 12-0-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA), respective activators of adenylate cyclase and protein kinase C, also decreased the osteoclastic bone-resorbing activity. PGE2 increased the content of intracellular cAMP in a dose range effective for the inhibition of bone resorption, whereas the prostanoid did not alter the intracellular level of inositol triphosphate. The inhibition of osteoclastic bone resorption by PGE2 was amplified and diminished by a cAMP phosphodiesterase inhibitor (isobutyl methylxanthine) and a protein kinase A inhibitor (Rp-cAMP), respectively. Of four different subtypes of PGE2 receptors (EPs), EP4 mRNA was predominantly expressed in isolated osteoclasts, whereas the other types of EP mRNA were detected in only small amounts. These results suggest that the PGE2 inhibitory effect was mediated by an adenylate cyclase system coupled with EP4. This possible association of PGE2 with EP4 in mature osteoclasts was supported by the finding that a specific agonist of EP4 (AE-604) inhibited the bone-resorbing activity and elevated the intracellular cAMP content. However, butaprost, a selective EP2 agonist, also mimicked the PGE2 effects on isolated osteoclasts although EP2 mRNA expression was minimal. In conclusion, PGE2 directly inhibits bone-resorbing activity of functionally mature osteoclasts by activation of the adenylate cyclase system, perhaps mainly through EP4.

Cleft lip and palate is a congenital disorder including cleft lip, and/or cleft palate, and/or alveolar cleft, with high incidence.The alveolar cleft causes morphological and functional abnormalities. To obtain bone bridge formation and continuous structure between alveolar clefts, surgical interventions are performed from infancy to childhood. However, desirable bone bridge formation is not obtained in many cases. Regenerative medicine using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is expected to be a useful strategy to obtain sufficient bone bridge formation between alveolar clefts. In this study, we examined the effect of human umbilical cord-derived MSCs by transplantation into a rat experimental alveolar cleft model. Human umbilical cords were digested enzymatically and the isolated cells were collected (UC-EZ cells). Next, CD146-positive cells were enriched from UC-EZ cells by magnetic-activated cell sorting (UC-MACS cells). UC-EZ and UC-MACS cells showed MSC gene/protein expression, in vitro. Both cells had multipotency and could differentiate to osteogenic, chondrogenic, and adipogenic lineages under the differentiation-inducing media. However, UC-EZ cells lacked Sox2 expression and showed the lower ratio of MSCs than UC-MACS cells. Thus, UC-MACS cells were transplanted with hydroxyapatite and collagen (HA + Col) into alveolar cleft model to evaluate bone formation in vivo. The results of micro computed tomography and histological staining showed that UC-MACS cells with HA + Col induced more abundant bone formation between the experimental alveolar clefts than HA + Col implantation only. Cells immunopositive for osteopontin were accumulated along the bone surface and some of them were embedded in the bone. Cells immunopositive for human-specific mitochondria were aligned along the newly formed bone surface and in the new bone, suggesting that UC-MACS cells contributed to the bone bridge formation between alveolar clefts. These findings indicate that human umbilical cords are reliable bioresource and UC-MACS cells are useful for the alveolar cleft regeneration.

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Obstructive sleep apnea in children may be associated with growth disturbances of the nasal floor and corpus length.