Cigarette smoke is associated with delayed fracture healing, alterations in mineral content, and osteoporosis, however, its effects on osteoblastic differentiation of osteoprogenitor cells are not fully understood. In the present study, we examined the effects of cigarette smoke extract (CSE) on osteoblastic differentiation of cultured human periosteum-derived cells. We found that CSE inhibited alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, mineralization and Runx2 transactivation of the periosteum-derived cells. Nucleofection of RUNX2 into the periosteum-derived cells increased expression of endogenous osteocalcin (OC) and ALP genes in osteogenic induction medium and increased OC expression in non-osteogenic medium. Treatment of the periosteum-derived cells with CSE resulted in decreased phosphorylation of AKT and forkhead box protein O1 (FOXO1). The AKT phosphorylation-resistant mutant, FOXO1-A3, inhibited transcriptional activity of RUNX2 in the periosteum-derived cells. The current study suggests one mechanism by which CSE exposure leads to inhibition of osteoblastic differentiation of cultured human periosteum-derived cells.
Keywords: FOXO1; Osteoblastic differentiation; Periosteum-derived cells; RUNX2 activity.