title: Effects of silicon on osteoblast activity and bone mineralization of MC3T3-E1 cells.
abstract: Previous studies have reported that dietary silicon (Si) intake is positively associated with bone health including bone mineral density. Although the amount of Si intake is high among trace elements in humans, how dietary Si affects bone formation at the cellular level is not well addressed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of Si in osteoblast activity and bone mineralization. MC3T3-E1 was cultured as mature osteoblasts and treated with sodium metasilicate (0, 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 μM) as a source of Si. After 7 days of treatment, 5 and 10 μM of sodium metasilicate significantly increased intracellular alkaline phosphatase activity (p < 0.05) when compared to the control. Additionally, all doses of sodium metasilicate (1, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 μM) increased mineralized nodule formation at 14 days of differentiation as evidenced by increased Alizarin Red S staining. In the analysis of gene expression, 50 μM of sodium metasilicate upregulated type I collagen (COL-I) compared to the control group. However, the increase of COL-I gene expression as a result of treatment with 1, 10, 25, and 100 μM of sodium metasilicate did not reach statistical significance. mRNA expression of insulin-like growth factor-I and receptor activator of NF-κB ligand was not significantly changed at any dose of sodium metasilicate (0, 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 μM). In light of the results, we conclude that Si has a positive effect on bone metabolism by enhancing osteoblast mineralization activity.
authors.affiliation: Division of Food Science, Kongju National University, Yesan 340-702, South Korea.
authors.forename: Eun-Jin
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: So-Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Bu
authors.forename: Mi-Kyung
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: Mi-Kyeong
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002113:Calcification, Physiologic / Q000187:drug effects*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects*; D002460:Cell Line; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D024042:Collagen Type I / Q000235:genetics; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000235:genetics; D051379:Mice; D010006:Osteoblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D053245:RANK Ligand / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017640:Silicates / Q000494:pharmacology; D012825:Silicon / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D024042:Collagen Type I; D053245:RANK Ligand; D017640:Silicates; C505689:Tnfsf11 protein, mouse; C025349:sodium metasilicate; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase; D012825:Silicon