Effect of a Bone Graft Substitute β Tricalcium Phosphate on Osteoblastic Genes mRNA Exprssion

To investigate the molecular aspects of osteoblastic interactions with β tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) particles, human osteoblast-like MG-63 cells were cultured with β-TCP particles at a density of 6 mg/mL culture medium for 48 h. Then, the mRNA expression of selected genes were quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), including the attachment-related genes (α integrin and actin), the proliferation-related gene (c-jun), and the osteoblastic markers genes (type I collagen, osteonectin, alkaline phosphatase, RUNX2 and osteoclain). The results showed that β-TCP particles (the average size 809 nm) significantly promote the attachment and the proliferation of MG-63 cells, and slightly enhance the osteoblastic differentiation based on the analyses of the related genes expression. This study provided scientific evidences to better reveal the underlines of functions of β-TCP in bone repair.