Rapamycin promotes osteogenesis under inflammatory conditions

Chronic periodontitis, a common oral disease, usually results in irreversible bone resorption. Bone regeneration is a complex process between bone-forming activity of osteoblasts and bone-resorbing activity of osteoclasts, and still remains a challenge for physicians clinically. A previous study demonstrated that the mechanistic target of rapamycin signaling pathway is involved in osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stromal cells. Herein, whether rapamycin could be used to induce osteogenic differentiation of primary bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in vitro and promote new bone formation in vivo were evaluated. The results demonstrated that rapamycin alone was not enough to fully induce osteoblast differentiation in vitro and enhanced bone regeneration in vivo. Interestingly, rapamycin in rapamycin plus lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated BMSCs significantly increased the gene expression levels of Sp7 transcription factor, runt related transcription factor 2, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and collagen I (Col I), ALP activity, and calcium nodule at different time points in vitro, indicating that osteoblast differentiation occurs by rapamycin when BMSCs are exposed to LPS simultaneously. It was also demonstrated that rapamycin in rapamycin plus LPS-treated rats promoted bone regeneration in vivo. These results suggest that rapamycin may influence osteoblast differentiation and new bone formation after LPS induces an inflammatory environment. Rapamycin may be used to treat periodontitis associated with bone loss in future clinical practice.