Effect of a Bone Graft Substitute β Tricalcium Phosphate on Osteoblastic Genes mRNA Exprssion

To investigate the molecular aspects of osteoblastic interactions with β tricalcium phosphate （β-TCP） particles, human osteoblast-like MG-63 cells were cultured with β-TCP particles at a density of 6 mg/mL culture medium for 48 h. Then, the mRNA expression of selected genes were quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction （PCR）, including the attachment-related genes （α integrin and actin）, the proliferation-related gene （c-jun）, and the osteoblastic markers genes （type I collagen, osteonectin, alkaline phosphatase, RUNX2 and osteoclain）. The results showed that β-TCP particles （the average size 809 nm） significantly promote the attachment and the proliferation of MG-63 cells, and slightly enhance the osteoblastic differentiation based on the analyses of the related genes expression. This study provided scientific evidences to better reveal the underlines of functions of β-TCP in bone repair.