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Age related defect of the osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) plays a key role in osteoporosis. Mechanical loading is one of the most important physical stimuli for osteoblast differentiation. Here, we compared the osteogenic potential of MSCs from young and adult rats under three rounds of 2 h of cyclic stretch of 2.5% elongation at 1 Hz on 3 consecutive days. Cyclic stretch induced a significant osteogenic differentiation of MSCs from young rats, while a compromised osteogenesis in MSCs from the adult rats. Accordingly, there were much more reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in adult MSCs under cyclic stretch compared to young MSCs. Moreover, ROS scavenger N-acetylcysteine rescued the osteogenic differentiation of adult MSCs under cyclic stretch. Gene expression analysis revealed that superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) was significantly downregulated in those MSCs from adult rats. In summary, our data suggest that reduced SOD1 may result in excessive ROS production in adult MSCs under cyclic stretch, and thus manipulation of the MSCs from the adult donors with antioxidant would improve their osteogenic ability. Anti-oxidants could prevent age-related bone loss and protect against osteoporosis, researchers from China say. Stem cells play a key role in bone formation, but aging makes them less effective at producing bone, increasing the risk of osteoporosis. Looking at the possible mechanisms behind age-related osteoporosis Jiali Tan (Sun Yat-sen University) and Wei Kuang (Guangzhou General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command) and colleagues focused on the effect on stem cells of chemically reactive molecules containing oxygen (ROS), which are known to inhibit bone formation. They found that reduced levels of a key antioxidant enzyme led to a higher level of ROS in adult rats than younger rats. These findings suggest that increasing the antioxidant properties of adult stem cells would help bone regeneration, which could be of clinical importance for treating age-related osteoporosis.
Tan et al. (Tue,) studied this question.