Regulatory effect of estrogen receptor-α-mediated Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway on osteoblast proliferation.

This study was designed to investigate the regulatory effect of estrogen receptor-α (ERα)-mediated Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway on osteoblast proliferation. Mc3T3-El cells were infected by ERα and ERβ small interfering ribose nucleic acid (siRNA) viruses and treated with estradiol 2 (E2) for 120 min after 24-h infection. Western blot was used to detect expressions of β-catenin, Gsk 3β, p-Gsk3β (Ser9) and CyclinDl; and methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) was applied to detect osteoblast proliferation after interference by different ERs. Western blot results indicated that the expressions of β-catenin, p-Gsk3β (Ser9) and CyclinDl decreased after ERβ interference and ERα + ERβ joint interference, and a more obvious decrease was found after the joint interference. After ERβ interference, β-catenin, p-Gsk3β (Ser9) and CyclinDl were strongly expressed compared with expressions in the blank control group. MTT results demonstrated that the proliferation rate of osteoblast was lower after the joint interference than after ERβ interference, while a slight increase was found in the proliferation rate after ERβ interference in comparison with the blank control group. It can be concluded that estradiol is able to promote the proliferation of osteoblasts in mice by ERα-mediated Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.