Isopsoralen promotes osteogenic differentiation of human jawbone marrow mesenchymal cells through Notch signaling pathway

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of isopsoralen on osteogenic differentiation of human jawbone marrow mesenchymal cells and its possible mechanism.The cytotoxicity and proliferation of cells were measured by a cell counting kit 8. Alkaline phosphatase activity analysis was then used to determine the optimal concentration of isopsoralen to promote the differentiation. Western blot, qRT-PCR and Alizarin Red S staining were used to evaluate the role of Notch signaling pathway in isopsoralen-induced osteogenic differentiation. This study also investigated the anti-osteoporotic effects of ISO using in vivo osteoporosis models.Our results showed that 1 × 10-6 mol / L isopsoralen can effectively promote the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of cells. Moreover, we found that activation of notch signaling pathway inhibited isopsoralen-induced osteogenesis and inhibition of Notch signal promoted the differentiation of osteoblasts induced by isopsoralen. In vivo experiments revealed that ISO significantly inhibited OVX-induced bone mineral density loss and restored the impaired bone structural properties in osteoporosis model mice.Our findings demonstrated that isopsoralen induced osteogenic differentiation by inhibiting Notch signaling and it might be a potential therapeutic agent for treating or preventing osteoporosis.