Effects of unsaturated free fatty acids on adhesion and on gene expression of extracellular matrix macromolecules in human osteoblast-like cell cultures.

To investigate the possible role for unsaturated free fatty acids in osteoblast adhesion, the effects of two polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), arachidonic (AA) and eicosapentaenoic (EPA) acids, and of one monounsaturated fatty acid, oleic acid (OA), on adhesion to the substrate and on gene expression of three extracellular matrix macromolecules were investigated in an in vitro model system--cultured osteoblast-like human cells. AA, but neither EPA nor OA, diminished bone cell adhesion, whereas both EPA and OA, but not AA, increased gene expression of type I collagen and fibronectin via a transforming growth factor-beta-independent mechanism. These results extend previous evidence for unsaturated fatty acids in bone cell metabolism.