Effects of the extract of Ginkgo biloba on the differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in vitro.

The balance of osteogenesis and adipogenesis in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) is disrupted in osteoporosis. This study was designed to investigate the effects of extract of Ginkgo biloba (EGB) on proliferation, osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in vitro. The effect of EGB on proliferation was evaluated by CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry. Osteogenic differentiation was evaluated by Alizarin Red S staining and Alkaline phosphatase assay. Adipogenic differentiation was evaluated by Oil Red O staining. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR) was used to detect the expression of osteogenic specific genes (BMP-2, Runx2 and Colla1) and adipogenic specific genes (ap2, PPARγ). EGB did not significantly affect proliferation of BMSCs. However, it increased the calcium accumulation and significantly promoted the activity of alkaline phosphatase, especially when the concentration of EGB reached 150 µg/mL. EGB dose-dependently inhibited the adipogenic ability of BMSCs. The osteogenic-related genes (BMP-2, Runx2, Colla1) were overexpressed while the expression of genes involved in adipogenesis, such as PPAR-γ and ap2, was decreasing with the increase of EGB concentration. Our data proves that EGB inhibited adipocyte differentiation and enhanced osteogenic differentiation in BMSCs, but had no effect on the proliferation of BMSCs.