Tumor necrosis factor alpha and interferon gamma inhibit proliferation and alkaline phosphatase activity of human osteoblastic SaOS-2 cell line.

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha and TNF beta both inhibited proliferation of cultured human osteoblastic SaOS-2 cells. TNF alpha also inhibited alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in the cells. The TNF alpha-induced inhibition of proliferation and ALP activity was further potentiated by interferon (IFN) gamma. These findings indicate that human SaOS-2 cells, fulfilling several criteria for osteoblasts, respond to TNF alpha and IFN gamma, resulting in decceleration of their maturation.