Since bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are highly homologous, we investigated the hypothesis that recombinant BMP-4 of the genome of Xenopus laevis (rxBMP-4) may influence the proliferation or differentiation of human primary osteoblast-like cells (HPOC), as occurs with recombinant human BMP (rhBMP-2).HPOC were incubated in the presence of either rxBMP-4, rhBMP-2 or basic fibroblast growth factor (rh-bFGF). The last two were used as positive controls and are known to induce differentiation or proliferation of HPOC, respectively. rxBMP-4 (50 ng/ml and 100 ng/ml) induced a differentiation of HPOC to almost the same extent as rhBMP-2, whereas the addition of rh-bFGF, applied in the same concentration, failed to have any influence on cell differentiation. rh-bFGF however, provoked an increase in cell proliferation of up to 150% when compared with non-stimulated HPOC, while rhBMP-2 and rxBMP-4 had no such effect.Our results indicate an equipotent effect of rhBMP-2 and rxBMP-4 obtained from Xenopus laevis on the differentiation and proliferation of human primary osteoblast-like cells. this superfamily. BMP-2 has been shown to induce bone formation de novo and bone repair in vivo. 8 In vitro experiments, using recombinant human BMP-2 (rhBMP-2) have been carried out to explore the effects of BMPs on the differentiation of osteoblasts and the formation of bone.
9-12A sequence analysis of the amino-acid composition of human BMP-4 and BMP-4 derived from Xenopus laevis (rxBMP-4) has revealed a close relationship between both proteins, especially in the mature part of the protein. 13 To the best of our knowledge, nothing is known about the physiological effects of rxBMP-4 on the process of differentiation and repair of human bones, but it is known to be an inducer of mesoderm formation during the early stage of development of the Xenopus embryo 13 and it provokes cell differentiation of the osteoblastic mouse cell line MC3T3-E1.14 Because of the high conservation and the similarity of the protein, the question arose as to whether rxBMP-4 like rhBMP-2 is able to promote the differentiation of human osteoblasts. To test this hypothesis, we examined the effects of rxBMP-4, rhBMP-2 and recombinant human fibroblast growth factor (rh-bFGF). In contrast to BMPs, bFGF, which is also synthesised in osteoblasts, seems to be a bone-regulating factor since it enhances the proliferation of osteoblasts in vitro 15,16 with an inhibitory effect on their differentiation.
17
Materials and MethodsCell culture. Cultures of osteoblasts were established according to the method described by Robey and Termine. 18 Fragments of cancellous bone were obtained during routine hip and knee replacements from four men and two women aged between 34 and 79 years. The fragments were dissected, minced, and rinsed several times with physiological saline solution to remove blood components. For collagenase digestion, the bone chips were incubated in serum-free Dulbecco's modification of Eagle's minimum