Effects of Apigenin and Rutaecarpine on Gene Expression Profiling of Human BMSC-derived osteoblasts [Microarray]

Aging causes dysfunctional changes to the bone microenvironment that lead to osteoporosis development. Osteoporosis is a serious bone health issue that is characterized by decreased bone formation and increased bone resorption. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of natural compounds, Apigenin and Rutaecarpine on osteoblast differentiation and examine if Apigenin and Rutaecarpine can rescue osteogenesis in aging-context. Using human bone marrow stromal cell line (hBMSCs) and primary cells obtained from young and aged women, we showed that Apigenin and Rutaecarpine are potent in inducing osteoblast differentiation and mineralization. These compounds were able to reduce senescence along with their impacts on suppressing oxidative stress and inflammation, which both contribute to aging and bone metabolic dysfunctions. Our microarray-based transcription profiling of hBMSC-derived osteoblasts treated with either 1 µM of Apigenin or Rutaecarpine during osteoblast differentiation for 21 days revealed distinct impacts of Apigenin and Rutaecarpine on different genes including those involved in bone metabolism and skeletal system development. Additionally, Ex-vivo organotypic embryonic chick-femur culture model was used to determine the osteogenic effects of Apigenin and Rutaecarpine. The average bone volume and cortical thickness of these chick femurs were both increased significantly by Apigenin and Rutaecarpine. Collectively, our study provides a novel insight for developing therapeutic strategies using natural compounds to combat aging and its effect on bone health. For microarray analysis: human bone marrow stromal cell line (hBMSCs) were treated with 1uM of DMSO (as a control), Apigenin, or Rutaecarpine and subjected for osteoblast differentiation for 21 days. Fresh osteoblast differentiation media containing the testing compounds were changed every 24 h.