Medical-Surgical Biotechnologies and Translational Medicine, "Tor Vergata" University of Rome, via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy.
Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine, "Tor Vergata" University of Rome, via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 May 31;22(11):5944. doi: 10.3390/ijms22115944.
Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is a glycoprotein belonging to the humoral arm of innate immunity that participates in the body's defence mechanisms against infectious diseases. It has recently been defined as a multifunctional protein, given its involvement in numerous physiological and pathological processes, as well as in the pathogenesis of age-related diseases such as osteoporosis. Based on this evidence, the aim of our study was to investigate the possible role of PTX3 in both the osteoblastic differentiation and calcification process: to this end, primary osteoblast cultures from control and osteoporotic patients were incubated with human recombinant PTX3 (hrPTX3) for 72 h. Standard osteinduction treatment, consisting of β-glycerophosphate, dexamethasone and ascorbic acid, was used as control. Our results showed that treatment with hrPTX3, as well as with the osteogenic cocktail, induced cell differentiation towards the osteoblastic lineage. We also observed that the treatment not only promoted an increase in cell proliferation, but also the formation of calcification-like structures, especially in primary cultures from osteoporotic patients. In conclusion, the results reported here suggest the involvement of PTX3 in osteogenic differentiation, highlighting its osteoinductive capacity, like the standard osteoinduction treatment. Therefore, this study opens new and exciting perspectives about the possible role of PTX3 as biomarker and therapeutic agent for osteoporosis.
五聚素 3（PTX3）是一种糖蛋白，属于先天免疫的体液免疫部分，参与机体对传染病的防御机制。最近，由于其参与众多生理和病理过程，以及与骨质疏松等与年龄相关疾病的发病机制有关，PTX3 被定义为一种多功能蛋白。基于这些证据，我们的研究目的是研究 PTX3 在成骨细胞分化和钙化过程中的可能作用：为此，我们用重组人五聚素 3（hrPTX3）孵育对照组和骨质疏松症患者的原代成骨细胞 72 小时。β-甘油磷酸、地塞米松和抗坏血酸的标准成骨诱导处理用作对照。我们的结果表明，hrPTX3 处理以及成骨鸡尾酒处理均诱导细胞向成骨细胞谱系分化。我们还观察到，该处理不仅促进细胞增殖增加，而且还促进钙化样结构的形成，特别是在骨质疏松症患者的原代培养物中。总之，这里报告的结果表明 PTX3 参与成骨分化，突出了其成骨诱导能力，与标准成骨诱导处理相似。因此，这项研究为 PTX3 作为骨质疏松症的生物标志物和治疗剂的可能作用开辟了新的令人兴奋的前景。
