| Abstract: | Several studies have shown that bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) can influence adipogenic and osteogenic cell lineages. We have shown that a peptide derived from BMP-9 (pBMP-9) at 400 ng/ml inhibits the proliferation of preosteoblasts and induces differentiation. We have now determined the effects of pBMP-9 (400 ng/ml) and equimolar concentrations of BMP-2 (100 ng/ml), BMP-9 (84.6 ng/ml) and pBMP-9 (9.04 ng/ml) on human white preadipocytes (HWP). pBMP-9 dose dependently reduced the proliferation of HWP without affecting the number of apoptotic cells. Incubation of the cells for 1 h with BMP-2, BMP-9 or pBMP-9 activated the Smad1/5/8 pathway, while incubation for 7 days in adipocyte differentiation (AD) serum-free medium containing ciglitazone and equimolar concentrations of BMP-2, BMP-9 or pBMP-9 enhanced the levels of mRNA of the adipogenic markers aP2 and adipoQ and increased the number of lipid vesicles. Thus, pBMP-9, like BMP-9, can increase the AD of HWP in AD serum-free medium. |
