Kashiwagi Miki, Hojo Hironori, Kitaura Yoshiaki, Maeda Yujiro, Aini Hailati, Takato Tsuyoshi, Chung Ung-Il, Ohba Shinsuke
Department of Sensory and Motor System Medicine, The University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan; Division of Clinical Biotechnology, The University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan.
Department of Bioengineering, The University of Tokyo Graduate School of Engineering, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2016 Oct 28;479(4):772-778. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2016.09.134. Epub 2016 Sep 28.
Bone fracture healing is processed through multiple biological stages including the transition from cartilaginous callus to bony callus formation. Because of its specific, temporal and indispensable functions demonstrated by mouse genetic studies, Hedgehog (Hh) signaling is one of the most potent signaling pathways involved in these processes, but the effect of Hh-signaling activation by small compounds on the repair process had not yet been addressed. Here we examined therapeutic effects of local and one shot-administration of the Hh agonist known as smoothened agonist (SAG) on bone fracture healing in a mouse model. A quantitative analysis with three-dimensional micro-computed tomography showed that SAG administration increased the size of both the cartilaginous callus and bony callus at 14 days after the surgery. A histological analysis showed that SAG administration increased the number of cells expressing a proliferation marker and a chondrocyte marker in cartilaginous callus as well as the cells expressing an osteoblast marker in bony callus. These results indicate that the SAG administration resulted in an enhancement of callus formation during bone fracture healing, which is at least in part mediated by an increase in chondrocyte proliferation in cartilaginous callus and the promotion of bone formation in bony callus. Therapeutic strategies with a SAG-mediated protocol may thus be useful for the treatment of bone fractures.
骨折愈合过程需历经多个生物学阶段,包括从软骨痂到骨痂形成的转变。由于小鼠遗传学研究显示刺猬信号通路(Hh)具有特定、限时且不可或缺的功能,它是参与这些过程的最有效信号通路之一,但小分子化合物激活Hh信号对修复过程的影响尚未得到研究。在此,我们在小鼠模型中检测了局部一次性给予Hh激动剂(即平滑化激动剂,SAG)对骨折愈合的治疗效果。三维微计算机断层扫描的定量分析表明,术后14天给予SAG可增加软骨痂和骨痂的大小。组织学分析显示,给予SAG可增加软骨痂中表达增殖标志物和软骨细胞标志物的细胞数量,以及骨痂中表达成骨细胞标志物的细胞数量。这些结果表明,给予SAG可促进骨折愈合过程中的骨痂形成,这至少部分是由软骨痂中软骨细胞增殖增加以及骨痂中骨形成促进所介导的。因此,采用SAG介导方案的治疗策略可能对骨折治疗有用。