The nacre (mother of pearl) layer of the oyster Pinctada maxima shell can initiate bone formation by human osteoblasts in vivo and in vitro and is a new biomaterial that induces osteogenesis. This activity of nacre could be due to its water-soluble matrix. We examined the action of a water-soluble extract of nacre on the osteoblast phenotype of cells isolated from rat neonatal calvaria by measuring alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and by localization of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 by immunocytochemistry. ALP activity was increased 7% (p<0.001) by 100 microg proteins/ml extract and 20% (p<0.001) by 50 microg proteins/ml extract, but a low concentration of extract decreased the ALP activity by 8%. Cells treated with a high aspartic acid content fraction of the extract had increased ALP activity (23%, p<0.0001). Nacre extract and the fraction have no effect on the proliferation of mature osteoblasts. Immunoreactive Bcl-2 was overproduced in the cytoplasm and nuclei of osteoblasts at all stages of culture. Bcl-2 was found over the whole chromatin in quiescent and mitotic cells at the end of mitosis in the two nuclei in one cell, before cytodieresis. Bcl-2 was also found over chromosomes. Thus, nacre extract stimulates Bcl-2 production in osteoblasts, that is correlated with the cell cycle. Bcl-2 was also abundant in the nucleoli of extract-treated cells. Thus, the concentration and subcellular distribution of Bcl-2 in osteoblasts in primary cultures is influenced by nacre extract, and related to the cell cycle and the regulation of gene expression. Hence, knowledge of how water-soluble extracts of Pinctada maxima nacre act on osteoblasts in vitro may reveal the mechanisms involved in its action in vivo on bone cells and bone regeneration.
Copyright 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers