Price J S, Oyajobi B O, Oreffo R O, Russell R G
Department of Human Metabolism and Clinical Biochemistry, University of Sheffield Medical School, U.K.
J Endocrinol. 1994 Nov;143(2):R9-16. doi: 10.1677/joe.0.143r009.
Deer antler growth provides a unique natural model of rapid and complete bone regeneration. In this study, the distal antler tips of male red deer (Cervus elaphus) were collected post-mortem during the annual growth period (April-August), and an in vitro system established for the culture of cells from three regions; the inner layer of the perichondrium, the reserve mesenchyme and the cartilage zone. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) expression by cultured cells, as demonstrated by enzyme histochemistry and biochemical assay, reflected the stage of cellular differentiation. ALP activity was highest in cells cultured from the hypertrophic cartilage region (3.6 +/- 0.2 mumol/micrograms cell protein/minute), and lowest in undifferentiated mesenchymal cells (0.3 +/- 0.01 mumol/microgram cell protein/minute). ALP expression was lost with passage in culture. Levels of ALP activity in cultured cells correlated with the pattern and extent of enzyme expression in tissue sections as demonstrated by histochemical staining. Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I (10(-9)M-10(-7)M) was found to be mitogenic for cultured cells from all three zones as shown by increased incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA. These results demonstrate that cells from three different regions of the antler tip can be maintained in culture, and that antler cells share certain phenotypic characteristics of growth plate chondrocytes. These data provide further evidence of a role for IGF-1 in the regulation of antler growth. Antler regrowth is a potentially useful model for the study of the factors that regulate bone formation.
鹿茸生长提供了一个独特的快速且完全骨再生的天然模型。在本研究中，在年度生长期间（4月至8月），于雄性马鹿（Cervus elaphus）死后采集其鹿茸尖端远端，并建立了一个体外系统来培养来自三个区域的细胞，即软骨膜内层、储备间充质和软骨区。通过酶组织化学和生化分析所证实的培养细胞碱性磷酸酶（ALP）表达反映了细胞分化阶段。在从肥大软骨区域培养的细胞中，ALP活性最高（3.6±0.2微摩尔/微克细胞蛋白/分钟），而在未分化的间充质细胞中最低（0.3±0.01微摩尔/微克细胞蛋白/分钟）。随着培养传代，ALP表达消失。如组织化学染色所示，培养细胞中的ALP活性水平与组织切片中酶表达模式和程度相关。胰岛素样生长因子（IGF）-I（10^(-9)M - 10^(-7)M）对来自所有三个区域的培养细胞具有促有丝分裂作用，这表现为[3H]胸苷掺入DNA增加。这些结果表明，鹿茸尖端三个不同区域的细胞能够在培养中维持，并且鹿茸细胞具有生长板软骨细胞的某些表型特征。这些数据进一步证明了IGF-1在鹿茸生长调节中的作用。鹿茸再生是研究调节骨形成因素的一个潜在有用模型。
