Expression of estrogen receptors alfa and beta mRNA and alkaline phosphatase in the differentiation of osteoblasts from elderly postmenopausal women: Comparison with osteoblasts from osteosarcoma cell lines

Fang Ping Chen*, Todd Hsu, Chin Hwa Hu, Wen Der Wang, Kun Chuang Wang, Li Fen Teng

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the expression of estrogen receptors (ER) α and β, and activity of alkaline phosphatase during differentiation of primary osteoblast cells (hOB) from aged postmenopausal women and human osteosarcoma cell lines (HOS, MG63). Materials and Methods: Osteoblast cultures were prepared from the upper femur of postmenopausal patients (age, 60-74 years) and HOS. At the indicated times (days 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25), alkaline phosphatase activity and expression of ERα and ERβ mRNA were evaluated. Results: In both cultures of primary hOB and HOS, alkaline phosphatase activity decreased at the osteoblast proliferation stage, whereas it subsequently increased at the matrix maturation stage. ERβ mRNA was strongly expressed in HOS on day 15 and remained at high levels of transcription through to day 25 (matrix maturation phase), whereas ERα mRNA was barely detectable during osteoblast differentiation. In hOB, transcription of ERα mRNA was much stronger than that of ERβ mRNA. Conclusion: The presence of ERα and ERβ mRNA in osteoblasts supports the involvement of estrogen in human bone formation. The developmental expression of alkaline phosphatase was not correlated to ER mRNA expression during osteoblast differentiation. ER isoforms may have different functions or interact with each other during osteoblast differentiation. Since the expression of ER isoforms is different between postmenopausal women and osteosarcoma cell lines, characteristics of osteosarcoma cell lines may not be suitable as a model for the evaluation of estrogen effects on postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)307-312
Number of pages6
JournalTaiwanese Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Volume45
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 12 2006

Keywords

  • Alkaline phosphatase
  • Estrogen receptor α mRNA
  • Estrogen receptor β mRNA
  • Human osteosarcoma cell lines
  • Postmenopausal women
  • Primary human osteoblasts

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