Runx2 alleviates high glucose-suppressed osteogenic differentiation via PI3K/AKT/GSK3β/β-catenin pathway.

Hyperglycemia is one of the most important pathogenesis of diabetic osteopathy. Several lines of studies indicate Runx2 plays a critical role in the process of osteogenic differentiation. However, little studies have analyzed the effect of Runx2 on osteoblast differentiation of rat bone mesenchymal stem cells (rBMSCs) in high-glucose condition. In this study, the effect of Runx2 on osteoblast differentiation in high-glucose condition was evaluated by the expression of osteogenesis-related maker including Runx2, ALP, OC, and OPN, as well as ALP staining, ALP activity, and Alizarin red S staining. Western blot analysis was performed to detect the protein expression levels of p-AKT, AKT, p-GSK3β, GSK3β, and β-catenin. Immunofluorescence staining analysis was performed to detect subcellular localization of β-catenin. Our results revealed that high glucose significantly inhibited osteogenic differentiation, hyperosmolarity did not cause a suppression. In addition, Runx2 could upregulate the expression of osteogenic-related genes and increase matrix mineralization, while applying 10 µM PI3K/AKT inhibitor LY294002 abolished the beneficial effect. Collectively, these results indicate that Runx2 alleviates high glucose-induced inhibition of osteoblast differentiation by modulating PI3K/AKT/GSK3β/β-catenin pathway.