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Iron Overload Inhibits Osteoblast Biological Activity Through Oxidative Stress

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Abstract

Iron overload has recently been connected with bone mineral density in osteoporosis. However, to date, the effect of iron overload on osteoblasts remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to examine osteoblast biological activity under iron overload. The osteoblast cells (hFOB1.19) were cultured in a medium supplemented with different concentrations (50, 100, and 200 μM) of ferric ammonium citrate as a donor of ferric ion. Intracellular iron was measured with a confocal laser scanning microscope. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) were detected by 2,7-dichlorofluorescin diacetate fluorophotometry. Osteoblast biological activities were evaluated by measuring the activity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and mineralization function. Results indicated that iron overload could consequently increase intracellular iron concentration and intracellular ROS levels in a concentration-dependent manner. Additionally, ALP activity was suppressed, and a decline in the number of mineralized nodules was observed in in vitro cultured osteoblast cells. According to these results, it seems that iron overload probably inhibits osteoblast function through higher oxidative stress following increased intracellular iron concentrations.

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Abbreviations

FAC:

Ferric ammonium citrate

CLSM:

Confocal laser scanning microscope

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

ALP:

Alkaline phosphatase

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Acknowledgments

This work was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 81273090), Jiangsu provincial grant (no. BK2012608), and science and technology projects of Suzhou (no. 510303).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215004, China

    Yin-Feng He, Yong Ma, Chao Gao, Guo-yang Zhao, Lin-Lin Zhang, Guang-Fei Li & You-Jia Xu

  2. Department of Molecular Diagnostics and Biopharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215004, China

    Yun-Zhi Pan & Kai Li

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  1. Yin-Feng He
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  2. Yong Ma
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Correspondence to You-Jia Xu.

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Yin-Feng He and Yong Ma contributed equally to this work.

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He, YF., Ma, Y., Gao, C. et al. Iron Overload Inhibits Osteoblast Biological Activity Through Oxidative Stress. Biol Trace Elem Res 152, 292–296 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-013-9605-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-013-9605-z

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