The role of kaempferol-induced autophagy on differentiation and mineralization of osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells

Background: Kaempferol, a kind of flavonol, has been reported to possess various osteogenic biological activities, such as inhibiting bone resorption of osteoclasts and promoting the differentiation and mineralization of preosteoblasts. However, the precise cellular mechanism of action of kaempferol in osteogenesis is elusive. Autophagy is a major intracellular degradation system, which plays an important role in cell growth, survival, differentiation and homeostasis in mammals. Recent studies showed that autophagy appeared to be involved in the degradation of osteoclasts, osteoblasts and osteocytes, potentially pointing to a new pathogenic mechanism of bone homeostasis and bone marrow disease. The potential correlation between autophagy, osteogenesis and flavonoids is unclear. Methods: The present study verified that kaempferol promoted osteogenic differentiation and mineralization and that it elevated osteogenic gene expression based on alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, alizarin red staining and quantitative PCR. And then we found that kaempferol induced autophagy by acridine orange (AO) and monodansylcadaverine (MDC) staining and autophagy-related protein expression. The correlation between kaempferol-induced autophagy and the osteogenic process was confirmed by the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA). Results: Kaempferol promoted the proliferation, differentiation and mineralization of osteoblasts at a concentration of 10 mu M. Kaempferol showed cytotoxic properties at concentrations above 50 mu M. Concentrations above 10 mu M decreased ALP activity, whereas those up to 10 mu M increased ALP activity. Kaempferol at concentrations up to 10 mu M also increased the expression of the osteoblast-activated factors RUNX-2, osterix, BMP-2 and collagen I according to RT-PCR analyses. 10 mu M or less, the higher of the concentration and over time, kaempferol promoted the activity of osteoblasts. Kaempferol induced autophagy. It also increased the expression of the autophagy-related factors beclin-1, SQSTM1/p62 and the conversion of LC3-II from LC3-I. The application of 3-MA decreased the activity of ALP and the autophagy induced by kaempferol. In the RT-PCR analysis, the expression of RUNX-2, osterix, BMP-2 and collagen I was decreased. Conclusion: The present study showed that kaempferol stimulated the osteogenic differentiation of cultured osteoblasts by inducing autophagy.