Abstract：Objective To investigate the effect of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) on adipogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) of osteoporosis rats in order to provide a new strategy for prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.Methods An osteoporosis animal model was established with six-week-old female SD rats. EPCs and BMSCs of these rats were cultivated and identified in vitro. BMSCs at passage 3 and 6 were used respectively to establish a BMSC-EPC indirect co-culture system on transwell inserts. The experimental groups included the BMSC sham group, BMSC ovx group and BMSC ovx/EPC indirect co-culture group. MTT assay was applied to measure the cellular proliferation while Oil Red O solution was used to detect lipid droplets within the cells. Real-time PCR analyses were performed to analyze the expression of adipogenic marker PPARγ2.Results Under indirect co-culture conditions, EPCs could significantly promote the proliferation of BMSCs(ovx) and greatly inhibit the cells’capacity of self-adipogenic differentiation. Co-cultured EPCs resulted in a better proliferative ability of BMSCs in the BMSC ovx/EPC group than in the BMSC ovx group. Furthermore, BMSCs in the BMSC ovx/EPC group had a lower self-adipogenic differentiation potential than in the BMSC ovx group, which was evidenced by Oil Red O staining quantification and mRNA expression levels of adipogenic marker gene PPARg2.Conclusions Under indirect co-culture conditions, EPCs can enhance the stem cells’ proliferation but notably inhibit autonomic adipogenic differentiation of BMSCs of osteoporosis rats.
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